Girls Catfish ISIS On Social Media For Travel Money

MarkWhittington writes: Yahoo Travel reported that three women in Chechnya took ISIS for $3,300 before getting caught. They are now under investigation for Internet fraud, which seems to be illegal even when committed against the most fearsome terrorist army in modern times. The scam seems to be a combination of the Nigerian Prince con, in which a mark is fooled into giving the con artist large sums of money and catfishing, in which the mark strikes up an online romance with someone he thinks is an attractive woman (or man depending on the gender and preference of the mark.)

Comments

Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is hilarious. I wonder why more people haven't tried it.

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe because you could become their next jihad!

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

1) it is illegal (most people are not scumbags)
2) it is a good way to get wacked. Dont think they will want revenge? Yeah piss off the guys with guns. That will work out well...

http://gifrific.com/wp-content...

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Who is going to press charges? Will the ISIS rep come forth to an international court for the damages? The article doesn't say who is investigating.

2. They used fake photos and the like, so I'm under the impression they did a good enough job covering their tracks. Hopefully they did. I can only hope that with what ever account they used to funnel the money didn't have their real name on it (don't know about foreign bank regulations) or that their names are so common they'd be impossible to search for. For example, mine is Christopher Smith. Good luck finding me with that alone.

Re: Nice.

[Threni]

Illegal? Perhaps. Do you care? Is it immoral? That's all I care about.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah I'm really all for defrauding a terrorist organization or sex trade suckers lol.

IF this court case really doors come down against these enterprising young women we need to think about prosecuting that government for collusion w ISIS.

Re:Nice.

[sjames]

Considering that ISIS was trying to scam them, it seems more like a situation where they managed to take the bait without springing the trap. It's just like the pool hustler. He lets you win one for chump change to get you hooked. If you see it coming and say that's enough for you, he's out the money fair and square.

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL, let them come try to get me. The gangs of LA would wipe out ISIS.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

IF this court case really doors come down against these enterprising young women we need to think [sic] about prosecuting that government for collusion w ISIS.

You cannot prosecute the government, even outside Soviet Russia, the government prosecutes you. As far as suing the government for enforcing criminal law ... good luck with that.

Re: Nice.

[Adriax]

The target does not change the legalities of the action. The state is compelled to investigate and rule.
But the punishment is up to their discretion (barring horrid minimum sentencing laws like some jail obsessed countries have). So while they likely will be found guilty, a smart judge will punish them with a pinkie promise not to do it again.

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

per capita, i have more guns than them. if i can take on zombies, i can take on isis.

bring it.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh no, not a pinkie promise, that is the hardest promise you can make.

Re: Nice.

[Mr. Shotgun]

The target does not change the legalities of the action. The state is compelled to investigate and rule. But the punishment is up to their discretion (barring horrid minimum sentencing laws like some jail obsessed countries have). So while they likely will be found guilty, a smart judge will punish them with a pinkie promise not to do it again.

See, when I first heard these girls are going to be charged I was thinking the state was playing the long game. Charge them, and when it comes to the trial have the victims come to testify and then arrest them. After all, it is a staple of a true justice system of being able to face your accuser.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

What? Are you on the drugs? This is now a matter of public record. If they had have managed to keep their identity safe they wouldn't have been charged.

Re:Nice.

[wonkey_monkey]

1. Who is going to press charges?

Same "person" who presses charges when a murder is committed. Hint: it's not the victim.

2. They used fake photos and the like, so I'm under the impression they did a good enough job covering their tracks. Hopefully they did

It's right there in the first sentence of the summary:

Yahoo Travel reported that three women in Chechnya took ISIS for $3,300 before getting caught.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Deport them to Syria. That will teach them.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

... it is a staple of a true justice system of being able to face your accuser.

Alas, the prosecutor takes the place of your accuser and your own confession takes the place of the witness. There is good reason to be very worried when police are asking what YOU did.

Re:Nice.

[bloodhawk]

So you think somehow the gangs of LA are going to magically protect you from someone driving a garbage truck full of explosives into your neighbourhood or from a stranger walking up to you hacking at your head with a machete? man you must walk around with a 1 kilometer perimeter where the only people you ever see are LA Gang members.

If someone wants to kill you bad enough then they CAN, embarrassing organisations like ISIS is a good way to not only get yourself killed but others around you. ISIS are a bunch of sadistic pricks with seriously warped moral compasses and they have a bunch of blind followers who will happily sacrifice their lives just to make a point that you can't fuck with them should they choose to do so, or are you really so niave that you think ISIS members don't exist in just about every country of the world?

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

So far, nobody ever got killed by embarrasing ISIS from locations in the west. You CAN get them to send assassins - by hosting a Mohamed caricature exhibition or similiar. But they have not bothered with people who merely speak ill of their fighting organization - which is something lots of journalists do already. After all, they want to be known as this fearsome gang who execute war prisoners and children.

And if you ask them, I bet they will claim it wasn't ISIS money that was lost - but the private money of some horny idiot that perhaps is being punished already.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

The target does not change the legalities of the action.

Really? If the these girls had driven a tank into Syria, attacked an ISIS outpost and plundered them for $3000, they would be heroes. Any anti-ISIS army would welcome them, medals ready. Even if "armed robbery" happens to be illegal in every anti-ISIS country.

Now, these girls didn't work for their government when doing this; but a sane ISIS-fighting government would simply hire them with orders to repeat until ISIS stop responding. New fake names, images, stories & bank accounts each time . . .

Re:Nice.

[bloodhawk]

There are organisations that individuals simply aren't equipped to deal with. ISIS, Al Qaeda, The Mexican Drug cartels, various other crime families and some gangs. You can speak out against most of them without repercussion most of the time. But if you are a dumb enough to act out alone against any of them then you either need to hope to be very lucky or should they so choose to make a point they will swat you like a fly without a second thought, the likelihood of the swatting only increases with how much publicity they will get from using you as an example.

Re: Nice.

[houghi]

I hope not. I hope they will be judges on their actions. Not more. Not less.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope they will be judges on their actions.

Unlikely. That's a big conflict of interest.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

No, we've had people fight against ISIS from Australia, and they've been prosecuted once they returned home - definitely not treated as heroes. Governments don't like you fighting and dieing for them unless they tell you to.

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice FUD asshole, but I'm Batman.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Then we should petition or leaders too offer the girls a chance at some other citizenship.
It's too bad the money was intercepted because they could've used it to gtfo of Chechnya. :)

Re: Nice.

[Jason Levine]

I'm half wondering if they'll be offered a plea bargain. All charges dropped in exchange for helping to run a covert department designed to further scam ISIS to drain as much of their money as possible.

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

I like to think of them as extreme Muslim juggalos.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

prosecutorial discretion is a thing in most countries, so no the government is not compelled to charge them.

Re:Nice.

[Eunuchswear]

Oh really? I guess things like 9/11 were a conspiracy?

ISIS didn't exist in 2001 you idiot. ISIS only exists because the US overthrew Sadam, leading to the remains of the Iraqi Ba'ath party to pretend it was the new caliphate.

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

What state or organization is pressing charges? Is it the state of Chechnya or some other law body? That is what I wanted to know. Knowing that it isn't ISIS itself is pretty obvious, but I'm sure the laws are different for fraud and murder.

If they were caught by their state or banks, I'd hope they'd have the sense enough to not publicly release the information to ISIS (specifically to the public). I was talking about covering their tracks from ISIS.

Re:Nice.

[ultranova]

But if you are a dumb enough to act out alone against any of them then you either need to hope to be very lucky or should they so choose to make a point they will swat you like a fly without a second thought, the likelihood of the swatting only increases with how much publicity they will get from using you as an example.

And the reason they bother making an example out of you is because they have no power aside from fear. As you demonstrate, it's quite effective, especially once the victim starts rationalizing their perfectly natural fear of death out of misplaced shame, because at that point they'll start attacking anyone who overcomes theirs.

Re:Nice.

[LWATCDR]

"So you think somehow the gangs of LA are going to magically protect you from someone driving a garbage truck full of explosives into your neighbourhood"
Don't you think that if they could get a garbage truck full of explosives they would have already blown up a bunch folks waiting at a bus stop.

Re:Nice.

[cyberchondriac]

True.. but that description doesn't sound that unlike the gangs of LA too. If AC is a gang member (?) , such a threat to himself or anyone he might care about is nothing new to him.

Re:Nice.

[mobby_6kl]

So you think somehow the gangs of LA are going to magically protect you from someone driving a garbage truck full of explosives into your neighbourhood or from a stranger walking up to you hacking at your head with a machete?

The OP was probably referring to LAPD. But your point still stands, admittedly.

Re:Nice.

[TsuruchiBrian]

I'll bet your fantasy includes you fighting alongside your favorite rappers, and them making you an honorary rapper like them because of how good at fighting you are.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Intent is a very important component of justice.

Re:Nice.

[bloodhawk]

You are mistaking healthy caution and understanding of dangers for fear. plenty of people have idiotic fears where they change and live there lives around those fears. I also don't poke king brown snakes and funnel web spiders in my garden when I find them there (some times do), I am not afraid of them, I just know I don't have the skill to deal with them personally if they decide to become grumpy.

As for they don't attack, that is bullshit, they have and do attack and many have been caught with failed plots to attack even in my country, I am not afraid of them as I don't think I have any reason to be, I live in a country that is relatively low priority on most anyones hitlist and even within that country I live somewhere that would be one of the last places to be targeted by anyone but that doesn't mean I go out of my way to make myself a target.

Re:Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is hilarious. I wonder why more people haven't tried it.

More people haven't tried it because most people avoid taking actions that could get them beheaded.

Re: Nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

"they have no power aside from fear"

Yeah, well, fear and violence... Actually that accounts for most power in the world.

They should legalize fraud against terrorists

[Anonymous Coward]

The results are hilarious. Imagine if ISIS got tied up trying to negotiate for money from people's recently decease uncles.

Re:They should legalize fraud against terrorists

[ThatAblaze]

Man, I want to live in your world! Imagine if everyone legalized anything that was hilarious. I'd go around planting drugs on the police, and if I got caught my defense would be "sorry judge, it was just too hilarious to stop!"

Re:They should legalize fraud against terrorists

[Anonymous Coward]

The police already do that to citizens.

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[Anonymous Coward]

*ahem* the politically correct word is poop. Please, think of the children!

Catfish

[ArchieBunker]

Can we stop using catfish as a verb? Its fucking dumb.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Tea bag as well.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop catfishing the catfish, you insenitive catfish.

--sf

Re:Catfish

[Culture20]

Catfishing is a specific type of fishing where you stick your hand in a hole that probably has a giant alligator snapping turtle, but you hope has a catfish, and you hope that the catfish tries to eat your hand, then you pull your hand out and you have a ctafish for dinner. But if you find that snapping turtle, then you won't be using the word "catfishing".

Re: Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Obv your granpappy never took you catfish'n. :P

Re:Catfish

[thegarbz]

Too late. It's in the Oxford dictionary now and part of the correct use of the English language. It's actually not the only definition of catfish in verb form.

Re:Catfish

[Mashiki]

I thought that was called noodling? That's what it's called here in Canada(Ontario specifically) and in the southern US.

Re:Catfish

[aliquis]

I know about the fishing but I didn't thought about the name in this case. I don't see how it make sense either.

I assumed it nothing more than:
cat - girl

and hence catfishing being fishing by acting / being a girl.

Which it's also described as in the article text.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

There are lots of catfish here. I heard in ideal conditions you can reach into submerged logs and pull them out by hand. Never heard of a giant alligator snapping turtle, though I cannot say that such a creature does not exist.

Re:Catfish

[Sqr(twg)]

Yes, verbing wierds language, as Watterson wrote, but on the other hand; What word do you propose we use to mean "to swindle by assuming a false identity online"?

Language evolves as new words are needed, and just because a word is already a noun, there's no rule saying it can't become a verb. (To "fish" is a verb.)

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we stop using catfish as a verb? Its fucking dumb.

Actually I think it's promising to but not doing it once you get dumb's cash.

Re:Catfish

[circletimessquare]

no

language evolves. deal with it. no one cares about your strange mentally brittle sensitivities. adapt or die

http://www.oxforddictionaries....

verb

(often as noun catfishing) Back to top
1 [NO OBJECT] Fish for catfish:
with the Mississippi River far below its normal level, the catfishing kept getting better and better
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
Some friends and I were catfishing the Minnesota River until well past midnight on a cloudy, moonless night.
I hooked a carp that was yellow as a goldfish while I was catfishing.
He'd spent more than a few cheery nights with them as they catfished on the Clinch River.

2 [WITH OBJECT] US informal Lure (someone) into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona:
he was being catfished by a cruel prankster
a victim of catfishing
[Originally with reference to the 2010 documentary film Catfish, which concerns such a relationship]
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
While there isn't much data at this point, catfishing is becoming more common anecdotally.
His words are instead funneled through Nick, who has been catfishing his best friend.
He said the athletic department catfished several athletes to teach them the dangers of social networking.

Re:Catfish

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Dictionary people used to just categorize definitions for eternity. They recognized the slow change, but now it seems they've gone overboard in the other direction, being too quick to recognize new words that may be faddish and need the lens of time to know if they're gonna stick around.

Re:Catfish

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

"I will make you catfishers of men." -- Jesus, when appearing in the New World in the Book of Mormon

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

But if you find that snapping turtle, then you won't be using the word "catfishing".

Snapturtling?

Like snapchatting but with turtles.

Re:Catfish

[bickerdyke]

This happens when business models without steady revenue streams aren't good enough. You somehow have to increase the frequency how often people are forced to buy updates.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Banana potato bane name rhubard, catfish lollypop blue-green at 4.30 yo!

Iridescent robot pancake, forty penguin change drawer. Matte matt tummy plop origami settler, ergo redneck?

Vatican cameo butler changes highlighter sunglasses!!

Paint bottle mouse tabulator.

Re:Catfish

[ihtoit]

interesting... I've never heard the word used in this way, ya learn something new every day...

Re:Catfish

[circletimessquare]

when i say "language evolves," that does not evoke random douchebags on the in the internet, it evokes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's because English is not a prescribed language. Its evolution has kept it strong. Dictionary online subscriptions will be renewed anyway.

If you want to see a linguistic racket, goto Academie Francaise.

Re:Catfish

[Hognoxious]

Batman aside, I don't see the link between "cat" and "girl".

Re:Catfish

[Hognoxious]

I suspect it's also an arms race to have the most definitions. Oh noes, the OED has 20,000 more than us - better add all the wrong ones too!

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

pussy...

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously you haven't watched enough anime.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Batman aside, I don't see the link between "cat" and "girl".

Don't worry, someday you'll make it to home base, brah.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Girls Con ISIS On Social Media For Travel Money
Girls Trick ISIS On Social Media For Travel Money
Girls Fraud ISIS On Social Media For Travel Money
Girls Rip-off ISIS On Social Media For Travel Money

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Why?

And can you learn to use punctuation, fuckwit?

Re:Catfish

[CSHARP123]

That's exactly I thought. Noodling is the word we use here in south.

Re:Catfish

[Sqr(twg)]

Maybe you're making a joke; but that's actually four more examples of using a noun in place of a verb.
(The last one would have been correct if it weren't for the hyphen.)

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Never heard of a giant alligator snapping turtle

From Wikipedia and National Wildlife Federation.

Suffice to say if your hand gets anywhere near its mouth you WILL lose at least one finger. Putting your arm into murky water where these creatures are known to exist in the hope a catfish will latch on isn't the brightest thing to do.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Never heard of a giant alligator snapping turtle, though I cannot say that such a creature does not exist.

Oh they really do exist down south, just think of a regular Snapping Turtle and make it 4-5 times bigger.

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

No.

Re: Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Also: swiftboat

Re:Catfish

[Ian A. Shill]

pussy?

Re:Catfish

[Wahakalaka]

German is exceptionally good at that.

Re:Catfish

[ShaunC]

What word do you propose we use to mean "to swindle by assuming a false identity online"?

Scam, defraud, or even just swindle; we have plenty of words to use for that already.

Re:Catfish

[ThatsDrDangerToYou]

I thought that was called noodling? That's what it's called here in Canada(Ontario specifically) and in the southern US.

I thought that was called noodling? That's what it's called here in Canada(Ontario specifically) and in the southern US.

Well, we used to call it that, but they made us stop. Too many lost their noodles.

Re:Catfish

[dcw3]

AKA Hillbilly Hand Fishing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...'

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Also called "catfisting".

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, not unlike doing this to an organisation known for abducting essentially sex slaves and calling them "wives"

Re:Catfish

[Sqr(twg)]

Neither of those is as precise as "catfish". You can "defraud", "scam" or "swindle" someone in person or online, using your real identity or a fake one.

Re:Catfish

[Hognoxious]

So why don't they call it pussyfishing?

Re:Catfish

[Mashiki]

The upside with all those cheap imports from China, you can just buy more noodles right?

Re:Catfish

[Anonymous Coward]

Catfish was a (reportedly) terrible movie that involved someone scamming free stuff by pretending to be a woman on the internet.

The name doesn't actually come from cat + phishing.

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[Anonymous Coward]

The judge and my therapist said I shouldn't think of the children so much.

Why is that illegal?

[SuperKendall]

If the intelligence agencies were smart, they would offer to match anything you were able to con out of known terrorist groups. The scam artists of the world would de-fund ISIS in about a year, all without firing a shot.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[mjwx]

If the intelligence agencies were smart

If they were smart, the New World Order would be a real thing instead of just a conspiracy theory.

A lot of our freedoms are owed to the idiocy and utter incompetence of the men and women serving in those intelligence agencies.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[manu0601]

The scam artists of the world would de-fund ISIS in about a year

Don't forget ISIS now control some oil production. That makes their pockets quite big.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't even know where to start with the idiocy of this post. The New World Order was a phase that the WWF went through before it got changed to the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). The phrase "new world order" has been around for a very long time and applied to many conspiracies, both successful and failed.

Re: Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

I love you, the only downside I see is it may be messing the NSA and GCHQ's plans up though... no more free flights :(

Re:Why is that illegal?

[zedaroca]

The scam artists of the world would de-fund ISIS in about a year

You forgot who is financing ISIS.
According to the vice-president (and a lot of other more credible places), it's the US allies, that their funds from the US.
The clip with Joe Biden
News about him apologizing for telling them out
Old Wikileaks leak about them financing anyone available to fight against Assad, and being interested in a big humanitarian disaster. Quotes from the e-mail:

One Air Force intel guy (US) said very carefully that there isn't much of a Free Syrian Army to train right now anyway

the idea 'hypothetically' is to commit guerrilla attacks, assassination campaigns, try to break the back of the Alawite forces, elicit collapse from within

They dont believe air intervention would happen unless there was enough media attention on a massacre, like the Ghadafi move against Benghazi. They think the US would have a high tolerance for killings as long as it doesn't reach that very public stage.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[SuperKendall]

You severely under-estimate the combined ability of the worlds scammers targeting a specific group... especially so with a group who have already shown they are prone to being manipulated.

No amount of stolen museum works or oil wells or side income from slave brothels/human trafficking would save them from total plunder.

Big pockets are all the better as lure the lure for more attacks.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[zedaroca]

*that get their funds from the US

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

The captured oil fields located in Syria were destroyed by air strikes and they have faced stiff resistance in their attempts to control the oil fields and refinery's located in Iraq. They actually destroyed some of the Iraqi oil refinery's themselves when they had to withdraw. They made money early on mainly by selling the oil already extracted and stored in the various tank farms. The Turkish border was also their primarily smuggling route but Turkey has finally got their thumbs out and tightened their border security.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Culture20]

And if the cannibals ate known terrorists? AIDS spreaders purposefully had unprotected sex with known terrorists? Terrorists cut the heads off of known terrorists?
Illegal things are illegal.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Pentium100]

Also, the ISIS would probably kill the jihadists who give too much money to a scammer, that way, not only their funds would be depleted, but their manpower as well.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[radarskiy]

"If the intelligence agencies were smart"

Your suggestion would be smart only to someone actually incentivized to end ISIS.

If ISIS went out of business, intelligence agencies would no longer be able to justify their expenditures in combating ISIS and would have to put in some actual work to find a replacement target.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[aliquis]

$3 million is the number I've seen.

Of course their \ equals Saudi-Arabia sell oil for more than that.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[SuperKendall]

Terrorists cut the heads off of known terrorists?

That strategy worked great in Doom. If you can figure out how to make it happen, I'm sure all will be forgiven.

Or are you saying former Doom players will be hunted down an jailed?

Re:Why is that illegal?

[ThomasBHardy]

While it's really great that you feel that the first time you hear a phrase is the first time it was ever uttered, and I'm sure that makes you feel like the epicenter of the social universe, most phrase usage these days are recycling of old phrases which capture an idea perfectly well, so why recreate them right?

Just a tidbit for thought:

"Origin of the phrase

One of the earliest standalone uses of the phrase "New World Order" was the title of the 1920 book The New World Order by Frederick C Hicks,[2] but is usually misattributed to H.G. Wells' 1940 book of the same name. The phrase had previously been used by Nicholas Murray Butler in his 1917 book A World in Ferment.[3] "New World Order" was also used in a 1940 essay by occultist writer Alice Bailey which was included in her posthumously published 1957 compilation The Externalisation of the Hierarchy. To Hicks, Wells, and Bailey, the term meant a benevolent social democracy that would soon emerge, whilst Butler used the term to describe the First World War as it was being waged. Conspiracy theorists, however, believe the term goes back earlier: to Cecil Rhodes and Lionel Curtis circa 1909. "

I'm pretty sure WWF/WWE wasn't behind these efforts and movements, but hey. you never know ;)

Re: Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck You

Re:Why is that illegal?

[dbIII]

The old situation of managing a problem (eg. hiring more telephone switchboard operators) to providing a solution to a problem (eg. automatic phone exchange). With a vast majority of management from the ranks of accountants, economists etc instead of a technical background it's really obvious that the former is what is usually going to happen.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[goodmanj]

... Okay, so I get a friend in Saudi Arabia to send me a money order, marked: "for travel to the Islamic State, Allahu akbar". I show it to the US government, they pay me a reward, I split it with my friend.

That's just off the top of my head, I'm sure a real con artist could do better. The problem with doing business with con artists is that they're con artists.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's just a conspiracy theory. Stop believing in conspiracies.You are no naive, and tinfoil hat, and the government is totally competant and would never screw up in the middle east like that. You're parnoid and dumb. People should laugh at you now. *Insert witty quip here*

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Xest]

Yeah if Turkey's latest actions where it's killed 260 kurds are anything to go by it's pretty obvious which side Turkey is on.

Turkey is the new Pakistan, pretending to be pro-West on one hand to get nice military funding, whilst supporting the likes of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS on the other.

All thanks to Erdogan.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

"totally competant"

Oh jesus...!!! LOL

Re:Why is that illegal?

[mvdwege]

Utter fucking bullshit. Turkey has always had a problem with the Kurds, it's a nationalism issue. Erdogan is as much a Turkish nationalist as the army that used to make noises about him better not getting out of line. But hey, why would you interest yourself in what actually motivates those brown people over there, as long as you can play on the Islamophobia to give your bigotry the semblance of respect?

Re:Why is that illegal?

[gmack]

The reality is much more complicated than that. The funds they used weren't American and the US pretty much asked them not to go off fund and and arm Jihadist groups but they went ahead and did it anyways because they wanted to hurt Iran's allies. (The current Iraqi government and Syria). The result was predictable: ISIS turned on their former benefactors now that they are self financing using local tax revenue and captured oil wells.

Re: Why is that illegal?

[jmac_the_man]

nWo was a late 90s WCW thing, not WWF.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[gweihir]

Indeed. And spam their communications into the ground.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Xest]

Erdogan has turned a blind eye to ISIS fighters and weapons using his country as a transit point into Syria whilst blocking Kurdish fighters from doing the same and has put far more effort into bombing Kurds.

It's got nothing to do with skin colour or religion, Turkey and the Kurds are both secular, ISIS is an Islamist group, and Erdogan is an Islamist leader, that's about it. Calling out a bad leader for doing more to oppress a group that has been in peace talks for 2 years and has been attacked by Erdogan's troops more than they've attacked Erdogans troops doesn't make me an Islamaphobe by any measure, particularly as there are more than enough muslim Kurds. Stop being so ignorant.

Your post really couldn't be more useless, "it's a nationalism issue", what's a nationalism issue exactly? bombing the Kurds? great, but how does that justify implicitly supporting ISIS by letting them transit fighters and weapons through Turkey? how does that make it okay to attack the Kurds more so than ISIS? It doesn't matter what the motivation issue is, it's wrong all the same. Erdogan has long held the belief that ISIS are more of a benefit than a problem, and that's really not good for the West. Only now that they've attacked Turkey proper in a slightly more brutal way has his calculus changed somewhat and even then his instinct is not to obliterate ISIS, but instead to use it as an excuse to hammer the shit out of the PKK, and hit the YPG too.

It's kind of sad how you had to see the problem as an issue of race and religion, I'm astounded that you'd then cry bigot - you obviously are wrestling with your own inability to keep religion and race out of a discussion it's wholly irrelevant to. Crying "Islamaphobe", talking about skin colour and shouting bigot wont detract from your own apparent bigotry where you jump to conclusions that bear no relevance to anything that was said.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[jrumney]

The intelligence agencies used to be that smart. They armed the Taliban against the Soviets, and they armed Iraq against Iran. For some reason they stopped the strategy of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Go figure.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[The-Ixian]

Not only that, but who would provide the FUD politicians need to distract the people?

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

XD like an internet scamer letter of mark.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[mvdwege]

Erdogan has turned a blind eye to ISIS fighters and weapons using his country as a transit point into Syria

Yes, what people actually live on that border? Oh golly, the Kurds.

The rest of your post is a case of 'the lady doth protest too much'. It's the usual PVV/Front National/Vlaams Belang/BNP apologia, so fuck off and die in a fire please, you racist shit.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[steelfood]

The problem with doing business with con artists is that you're tyring to do business.

FTFY

Re: Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

So naive. There will always be a boogeyman, real or not.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, the ISIS would probably kill the jihadists who give too much money to a scammer, that way, not only their funds would be depleted, but their manpower as well.

Wow, you make it sound like their hierarchy works like the Klingon Empire.. where you kill your boss and take his job.. Perhaps, in that case all we need are a few good psychopaths... Where did that Dexter guy end up?

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Xest]

You really are not mentally mature enough to be having this discussion, you're still desperately crying racism in a topic that has literally nothing to do with race. When you've got two groups fighting that are the same fucking race, then how exactly do you think racism even remotely factors in? Do you really think that just shouting racism at people somehow makes a legitimate argument even when it makes absolutely no sense?

And no, the Kurds don't control anything even approaching the entirety Turkish/Syrian border, and those that do live on that border aren't the ones Erdogan has been primarily targeting (though he has been targeting them). Most of those he has killed have been killed in Iraq.

You obviously have a hatred for the far right, and that's a good thing, but when you don't even understand the sorts of policies those groups have (I'll give you a hint: they don't care about brown people as you call them fighting other brown people) and make nonsensical arguments against them it doesn't exactly put you in a position of strength. People like you do more harm than good, because they can legitimately hold you up as an example of someone that throws terms like "racist" around when it doesn't make any sense and as such you devalue the term removing it's potency when it's necessary to call out real actual racists.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

Where did that Dexter guy end up?

Guantanamo, on suspicion of being the head of ISIS. :/

Re:Why is that illegal?

[SuperKendall]

Nice try but the NSA has to verify the communications (which they were of course monitoring) were with a real terrorist.

So either (A) you get no money, or they believe you an (B) whisk your friend off to an"unsafe house" for questioning.

You try to find out later what happened to him and you get to visit him in person!

Re:Why is that illegal?

[Pentium100]

Not "kill your boss and take his job", but "give too much money away to a scammer and your boss will kill you".

Re:Why is that illegal?

[goodmanj]

If the NSA really were monitoring that closely, they'd have identified every ISIS sympathizer and rounded 'em all up long before they got to my friend, and the con artist reward would be unnecessary.

Likewise if they were able to find my friend through the financial system based on his money order, ISIS would respond by doing business strictly in untraceable cash, and so there'd be no way for me to prove that I'd conned ISIS, and so the con artist reward would be useless.

So whichever way you slice it, this scam artist reward scheme is either useless or open to abuse.

Re: Why is that illegal?

[radarskiy]

"There will always be a boogeyman"

Which I already mentioned. The point is that it takes time and effort to switch boogeymen which you could be devoting to hookers and blow.

Re:Why is that illegal?

[paazin]

If ISIS went out of business, intelligence agencies would no longer be able to justify their expenditures in combating ISIS and would have to put in some actual work to find a replacement target.

Damn where would we find one of those... Maybe China? Or Russia?

Old tactic, new target

[Anonymous Coward]

There was an entire thread on TOTSE's "Bad Ideas" forum dedicated to "Pedobaiting"(BEFORE Chris Hansen's to catch a predator was a thing). These guys would pretend to be 12 year old girls and get pedophiles to send them cash via Western Union to buy plane tickets.

As con-artistry goes: I consider it to be one of the more enlightened ways of skimming cash off of unsympathetic villains...

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[Anonymous Coward]

Evidently not enough to post a coherant headline.

Re: This is a crap propaganda post

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this news anyway related to this site?
Editors, please, if the long term future of this site is a priority, please make sure that the level of news don't go down like this.
I can understand when you post serious or sometimes even funny news clippings which really doesn't align with the stated principles. That is fine, without some explorations around, we never really find our sweet spot.
But this, this is going down a level. There are many sites which cater to these news items. I don't come here expecting to see this level of posts on Slashdot.

It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[rahvin112]

If it was legal to scam them they would be flooded with offers from so many girls it would either bankrupt them or they would stop recruiting because of all the scams. It would seriously disrupt their recruiting.

It's just like banning people from joining them. We should be lining those people up and flying them over there right after they sign papers saying they aren't citizens anymore. Let them go, fight and die as long as they never return. They won't be in our country anymore. And on the flip side it should be perfectly legal to scam them. They are a criminal organization and I personally like the old world idea that someone that's breaking the law and fighting prosecution is then outside the law including it's protections. There aren't innocents in groups like ISIS, everyone should be free to target them with any action that would normally be deemed criminal.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[mysidia]

If it was legal to scam them they would be flooded with offers from so many girls it would either bankrupt them or they would stop recruiting because of all the scams.

I would suggest the prosecutors exercise their prosecutorial discretion to not prosecute against people for non-violent crimes committed against overseas violent enemies/lawless violent groups.

At some point the noise of all the scammers/fakers could drown out those whom terrorist orgs could "legitimately" recruit, therefore interfering with those groups' ability to recruit.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Anonymous Coward]

By the same rule, religious terrorist groups are free to target us as well, as in their eyes, our actions are deemed criminal by them. The 'old world idea' is basically an idea of anarchism and does not work.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the same reasoning they use to go all terrorist on you.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Forever Wondering]

Perhaps one or more governments have already been doing this in various forms. While quasi-legal for a government to do it [some have done far worse], this might be a case of the private sector cutting into the margin ... Last time I looked, wasn't the Chechnyan government hard up for cash [as are a lot of former Soviet Bloc countries, notably Russia]? Just sayin' ...

In all seriousness, this ISIS catfishing could easily be subverted along the lines of the Nigerian oil minister scam: "Hi, you don't know us, but we'd like to scam ISIS and fight terrorism. Would you like to help? If so, just send us some money so we can bait them into sending us some money ..."

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[houghi]

Stealing is illegal. Simple as that. I think it is GOOD that it is illegal. That way there is no line that you can cross.

What you are promoting is that people take justice into their own hands. That will end badly.

And placing people outside the lwa and their protection is a good idea for you? To me that means you are no better than those who you are trying to fight.

If you want them ded so badly, join the people who fight them. Does not even have to be the US Army.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[dunkelfalke]

Last time I looked, wasn't the Chechnyan government hard up for cash [as are a lot of former Soviet Bloc countries, notably Russia]? Just sayin' ..

Must be very long ago last time you looked. Chechenia has belonged to Russia for what, 150 years?

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[dargaud]

You mean like burning houses with babies in them ?

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Anonymous Coward]

Put aside the effectiveness of this scam aside, the moral basis you put your argument on is so simplistic that it is ludicrous - Sure - murder is illegal, stealing is illegal. However, if an act of stealing can weaken an entity's ability for murder, I say go for it.

The only thing they did wrong was the low amount scammed. If the scam involved $330 million instead of $3300, they'd be heroes instead of criminals.

This same blindly following of immovable ideals was probably also how ISIS was formed.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[ImprovOmega]

Okay see, but killing people is illegal as well. Yet when we declare war on someone we declare that it is okay to kill them to further some grander strategic goal. The government could certainly do something similar here - declare war economically on ISIS and say it's okay to scam them out of whatever money you can, just report your scammed income here on this form and it's all well and good.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Thelasko]

It's just like banning people from joining them. We should be lining those people up and flying them over there right after they sign papers saying they aren't citizens anymore. Let them go, fight and die as long as they never return.

Banning them from joining does effectively the same thing. It's not like someone is standing there physically preventing people from joining. If people go and join, they get put on a list. If they try to reenter their home country they are arrested and rot in jail.

Remember, making something illegal doesn't prevent it from occurring. It just provides a means to prosecute those that commit that act.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[babybird]

The problem is you're still catering to criminals. If scamming them is legal, then law abiding people will scam them, sure. But scammers are scammers because they game systems for profit. If it's legal to scam ISIS, then scammers will scam ISIS but they will also scam the system of scamming ISIS, making even MORE money in the process, and costing everyone else at the same time.

It's never good to cater to criminals, and it's never good to blur lines-- we have enough problems caused by this as it is, and adding more of them isn't going to make things better.

Besides that, doing something like this in any kind of official, broad spectrum capacity is also going to provide evolutionary pressure on ISIS to get smarter, and they're already quite smart for a terrorist organization, so it's probably best that we let them be as stupid as they are rather than influencing them to become even smarter, because that only makes our job even harder, decreasing the odds that we'll succeed by some small measure, or at least pushing out success that much further. Spam was just spam when it was small, but then it grew and everybody started spamming, and then legitimate email users created smart spam filtering to counteract it-- but by that time, we were already wasting tons of resources fighting an enemy that we empowered in the first place, creating a permanent enemy and an endless war.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[stdarg]

Exactly, but the Islamic terrorists are already doing that. The question is, why does it serve our interests for OUR government to protect ISIS by stopping OUR people from attacking or defrauding them?

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Anonymous Coward]

You want to make combatants out of civilians?

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Anonymous Coward]

If it was legal to scam them they would be flooded with offers from so many girls it would either bankrupt them or they would stop recruiting because of all the scams. It would seriously disrupt their recruiting.

It's just like banning people from joining them. We should be lining those people up and flying them over there right after they sign papers saying they aren't citizens anymore. Let them go, fight and die as long as they never return. They won't be in our country anymore. And on the flip side it should be perfectly legal to scam them. They are a criminal organization and I personally like the old world idea that someone that's breaking the law and fighting prosecution is then outside the law including it's protections. There aren't innocents in groups like ISIS, everyone should be free to target them with any action that would normally be deemed criminal.

Where is Anonymous when we need them????? I know, they are NYPA.. But this is different.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Forever Wondering]

Must be a very long time since you looked at a grammar book. Saying "as are" does not link or imply that Chechnya is [or is not] a former Soviet Bloc country.

Examples:
- The city of Anytown, USA is having financial difficulties, as are state governments and many corporations.
- The Australian government is having financial difficulties, as are European governments, notably France, Belgium, and Spain.

For your correction to be valid there would have to be something like:
- The city of Anytown, USA is having financial difficulties, as are OTHER state governments and many corporations.
- The Australian government is having financial difficulties, as are OTHER European governments, notably France, Belgium, and Spain.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[dunkelfalke]

English is my fourth foreign language, thank you very much. Still, even while your point might be valid generally, you have explicitly mentioned "notably Russia". Since Chechenia is a part of Russia, the more correct analogy would be "the city of Anytown, USA is having financial difficulties, as, notably, USA." Well, duh.

My guess is, you didn't know that Chechenia is not a country, and now you are just trying to cover that up by trying to sound condescending.

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Anonymous Coward]

Killing != Murder

Re:It ought to be legal to scam ISIS

[Forever Wondering]

Because English is your 4th language, I'd be more circumspect about interpreting it. Your whole "must be a long time since ..." is condescending. I only added "must be a long time since ..." because you did. I would still have given the explanation about the grammar, but it might have seemed to be instructive and beneficial.

And the history is quite murky.

Chechnya declared independence in 1917. Was invaded by Russia in 1921 and reabsorbed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chechnya declared independence in 1991. Russia killed the Chechen president in 1996. Yeltzin withdrew Russian troops in 1996. So, it wasn't 150 years. At best, 94 years (from 1921).

But, the modern interpretation is from 1991/1996 going forward where Chechnya is an independent state. Except ... for those Russian assassinations of Chechen presidents, invasions, border skirmishes ...

The cycle seems to go like this: Chechnya wants independence and Russia invades. So, are you condoning/supporting Russia's invasion by force policies?

The mention of Russia in my original post was more of a direct dig at Russia, Putin's failed policies, and his attempts to divert attention from that with the militarism.

oh please

[Anonymous Coward]

> most fearsome terrorist army

Yeah right.

BUncha fig eaters trying to find reverse on a Toyota HiLux.

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[Culture20]

This is a crap propaganda post. How much the state department is paying you?

*ahem* the politically correct word is poop. Please, think of the children!

Okay,
This is a crap propaganda post. How much the poop is paying you?
Better?

I heard this days ago..and

[Rick in China]

LET THEM GO! Come on, really going to charge some women with cheating ISIS out of a few grand?

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[Anonymous Coward]

The fact the victim deserved it doesn't change the fact they broke the law.

It's ridiculous how the same people who complain about the NSA's wrongdoings don't see anything wrong with ignoring the law when it suits them.

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't it ?

It seems we can break the law and murder / bomb those assholes. But scamming them is across some sort of line ?

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[Rick in China]

Nobody, other than maybe ISIS, is complaining about the NSA monitoring ISIS communications. They're complaining about the NSA illegally monitoring innocent civilians communications and strapping it under the "stop terrorism" banners.

Since ISIS is a stated enemy of many governments around the world - and many governments around the world are actively fighting against them, it's hardly an apples to apples comparison you're making. What would be an apples to apples comparison - if some hackers took down ISIS websites, do you think their respective governments would put any effort into charging them with computer crimes? I'd sure as hell hope not. The fact the victim is an enemy of your state sworn to destruction, death, and chaos - displaying beheadings and shit on the internet hoping to strike fear in civilian lives - absolutely changes the fact that they 'broke the law', and if it doesn't, it should.

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[Anonymous Coward]

The laws for wars are different. It is ok to kill them, for example. We don't execute our soldiers for "murder". Similiar for any lesser grabs against the enemy - as long as the enemy is the only one to suffer.

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[amiga3D]

The government reserves that right to itself. Not individuals.

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[Anonymous Coward]

do you think their respective governments would put any effort into charging them with computer crimes? I'd sure as hell hope not.

If you were to somehow become aware of an ISIS Web site and you took it upon yourself to take it down, who knows what the effects might be? For all you know, intelligence agencies of various nations might be actively watching the site. Maybe they're aware that a member of ISIS is about to post something that they know is going to provide valuable intelligence. So in short, if you become aware of such a site, NO, you shouldn't take it down, and YES, you should face consequences. Vigilante actions could very well have negative effects on our ability to fight them.

Maybe take it upon yourself to report it anonymously just in case its existence is unknown, but seriously, don't touch it.

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[stdarg]

So the government should issue letters of marque against terrorist groups.

Re:I heard this days ago..and

[amiga3D]

I don't say should, simply that it has that right.

You're not a lawyer, are you?

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Who is going to press charges?

It's a criminal offence, so by definition the state will prosecute it.

Will the ISIS rep come forth to an international court for the damages?

I doubt ISIS has legal personality in any relevant jurisdiction, so no. OTOH, the individual jihadist may have an separate action at tort law, but would be ill advised to pursue it.

Simple out

[Tablizer]

Just require ISIS show up at court.

Re:Simple out

[Anonymous Coward]

You do have that right, of course since the Republicans hate the Constitution nearly as much as they hate us, we no longer have that right. They hate us.

The realistic problem here is one of security

[Shadow of Eternity]

People pissing off ISIL/ISIS or interfering with non-public operations are a problem for states that are doing their own things officially. When you've got private citizens scamming them like this you wind up with lots of little bullseyes antagonizing ISIL which might provoke a reprisal of some kind.

What we really need to do with all these non-state and semi-state actors like ISIL and Al Qaeda is start issuing letters of marque again. "You want to pick a fight with these guys? Go have it at. Follow these rules and understand you're on your own or we'll come after you ourselves."

Re:The realistic problem here is one of security

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh come on... Call them Daesh/ (pronounced Deesh) its the arabic slur name for them that pisses them off to no end, which considering who they are, is a good enough reason

Re:The realistic problem here is one of security

[goodmanj]

Yeah, because nobody in the history of warfare ever misused a letter of marque.

Re:The realistic problem here is one of security

[painandgreed]

What we really need to do with all these non-state and semi-state actors like ISIL and Al Qaeda is start issuing letters of marque again. "You want to pick a fight with these guys? Go have it at. Follow these rules and understand you're on your own or we'll come after you ourselves."

Well, that's sort of how we got where we are today. People encouraged to go fight Russia in Afganistan became the foundation of Al-Queda. People encouraged to go fight Syria became ISIS. Even back in the days of marque, there was a significant problem with such people turning full pirate and attacking everybody. There's no real way to keep those people receiving money, equipment, and training for a proxy war to go home and do nothing once the fighting you want done is over.

Re:"...most fearsome terrorist army in modern time

[Dutch Gun]

No one said US (or Russian, for that matter, where these women were from) citizens were afraid of ISIS. We have a few advantages, namely:

a) We're protected by a powerful military that would stomp ISIS in a head-to-head engagement, and
b) we are physical separated from them by vast distances.

No, I think "repulsed" is probably more accurate. Those in the direct line of fire probably feel a bit differently.

THEY LIVE

[Anonymous Coward]

just follow the plan laid out for you, human.

work.

pay taxes.

retire shortly before your body will fail.

sincerely,

- the lizards

The "Religion of Peace"

[zapadnik]

Thank goodness Islam is "The Religion of Peace" and ISIS isn't following Sharia. I'm sure ISIS will "turn the other cheek" because Islam follows the "Golden Rule" and preaches "forgiveness", and the equality of men with women, and believers and unbelievers, and separation of mosque and State, right? right? /sarc

Too bad for these girls that Islam actually means "Submission" (supposedly to Dushara/Allah, but actually to the Arab Emperor the Caliph), and Sharia preaches no mercy, women are worth less than men and the absolute property of either he father or husband, and unbeliever/infidel "kufir" (which is a pejorative term similar to the Nazi "Untermenchen" or racist "n$gg3r") is subhuman and worthy of death for not accepting the Islamic political order across the globe (commanded by Koran 9:29 to be implemented over time by all Muslims).

Run girls! run! and be safe.

Re:The "Religion of Peace"

[babybird]

When someone abuses religion for their own ends, it is not the religion at fault, it is the individual or group abusing that religion for their own ends. ISIS might have a few tens of thousands of members (many of whom are more secondary sociopaths than the psychopaths who started/run it), but Islam has 1.2 billion members, the overwhelming vast majority of whom are in fact peaceful. Don't blind yourself to an ideology by ignoring facts, or else you become your own enemy, by becoming like your own enemy.

Re:The "Religion of Peace"

[zapadnik]

Thanks Keith, and sound advice, in general.

However, I suggest you actually learn what Islam teaches its adherents. ISIS have misinterpreted nothing, they are practicing Islam *exactly* as Mohammed was said to have practiced it. Tolerating an evil is an evil. Learn was Islam and Sharia are as Muslims are taught to understand them, not the garbage that is fed to us under the famous 'taqiyya', 'kitman', 'muruna' doctrines (ie. in Islam is is not only permitted to lie to kaffir if it advances Islam, it is obligatory).

Here's a place to start understanding what Islam *actually* teaches:
http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/...

Re:The "Religion of Peace"

[david_thornley]

You're not saying ISIS is a good Muslim organization, you're saying that it goes along with certain teachings that are linked with Islam. In other words, you're confusing a religion with a culture that is a large chunk of that religion.

Re:The "Religion of Peace"

[zapadnik]

Sorry, but you are plain wrong. Al Azhar University in Cairo (the highest authority on Sunni jurisprudence) has repeatedly stated that ISIS is an authentic Islamic entity. This is because ISIS is following the commandments of Sharia to the letter.

ISIS also follow the example of Mohammed exactly. Mohammed raped, slaughtered, lied, assassinated, looted, tortured, beheaded, molested children, etc etc and this is all well-attested in the hadith and commanded in the Koran. ISIS are doing *exactly* what Mohammed did, can commanded all Muslims to do. Fortunately, most Muslims are good human beings (which makes them bad Muslims, 'Takfiris' or apostates - note the Submission ideology [called "Islam" in Arabic] requires apostates to be killed).

To claim that ISIS are carrying out "cultural" practices and not the Submission ideology (aka "Islam") is a classic deception (known as "taqiyya" to Shia, and "idtirar" to Sunni) designed to pacify you so you don't resist Submission until it is too late. The Submission ideology (Islam) is completely alien to Westerners (who incorrectly assume that lying is prohibited, and that there is a Golden Rule producing equality between believers and unbelievers - when there is none, "kaffir"/infidels are considered subhuman that must be exterminated if Islam is to victorious):
http://www.islam-watch.org/aut...

So why you defend the evil Submission ideology rather than stand up for Global Enlightenment Civilization is beyond me. Perhaps you think that it is somehow noble to show tolerance to a deceptive, barbaric and totalitarian ideology that works to destroy Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Conscience, Sexual Equality, Equal Rights for Homosexuals, Science (which Islam considers blasphemy ever since the time of Al Ghazali), etc etc

I would suggest that you learn about the true nature of Islam, David - rather than defending an evil you know nothing about (hence, you are easily mislead into repeating the propaganda produced by its adherents). Here's a place you can start looking:
http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/...

Stop repeating the propaganda of the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC - who work as a 57-country voting block in the United Nations). Stand up for Individual Liberty and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights rather than the Sharia deception of the "Cairo Declaration of Human Rights". Because making excuses for evil will make you complicit in the evil.

Speaking of which, here are the ISIS prices for slaves including boys and girls from 1 to 9 years old (which is permitted in Islam because Mohammed 'married' a child of 6 years, Aisha bint Abu Bakr):
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...
Do you really want to be providing apologia for these perfectly 'halal' (legal) Islamic practices of sex slavery and especially child sex-slavery (which Mohammed indulged in, so it is permitted always in Islamic ideology).

A nation at war...

[ThomasBHardy]

I'm curious how this would play out here in the states.

While Internet fraud is a crime, if the nation has an enemy we have declared war with or even a formal aggression stance such as a police action, etc, I wonder if scamming them wouldn't actually be a nationalist act and praised.

The whole thing as it stands is a farcical scenario of laws versus justice/morality. Something worthy of debate.

Re:A nation at war...

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone breaks into your house and steals your wallet, that does not give you the right to break into the thief's house and steal it back. Even if you can prove the wallet's yours (bunch of credit cards/licenses with your name on it) you still committed a crime in your pursuit of justice.

Doesn't matter who they defrauded, it's still fraud. Eye for an eye does not hold up in court.

Re:A nation at war...

[ihtoit]

Eye for an eye does hold up under colour of fighting a righteous cause, like a war.

So, providing the vigilante has previously published a written declaration of war on burglars, well, anything goes including but not limited to random-drop air strikes on weddings and ambulance convoys, communications disruption, and targetted snatches of ranking enemy combatants - for example, regional kingpins.

Re:A nation at war...

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone breaks into your house and steals your wallet, that does not give you the right to break into the thief's house and steal it back.

Maybe not in your country. I can take back stolen goods if I like. May have to pay a broken door - but I can walk in and grab my property.

Doesn't matter who they defrauded, it's still fraud. Eye for an eye does not hold up in court.

Well, this is not "eye for eye". They did not commit fraud against ISIS as revenge for ISIS defrauding them. It is simply an act of war (messing with ISIS in whatever way they can) but it is vigilantism. They didn't do it "for their country", so it comes down to this: Is volunteering against ISIS legal in that country? Some countries allow their citizens to go mercenary - others don't.

Hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if they're any good at obtaining first post? Can someone email them and see if they're interested in a career of Slashdot shitposting?

Collateral Damage.

[westlake]

This looks like it is all in fun.

Until ISIS decides to set off a truck bomb on the street where these women live.

The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. The Islamic State is committed to purifying the world by killing vast numbers of people.

What ISIS Really Wants

Re:Collateral Damage.

[Anonymous Coward]

The debate about women having poor taste in suitors seems to have escalated from bad-boys to known-terrorists. "Rebel Without A Cause" will need recasting now.

When do we get to step in and tell them they're making poor life choices? Or do we let Darwin sort that out?

Hey ISIS!

[Anonymous Coward]

There's some easy money to be made, but you gotta help me out first. You see I have this Nigerian Uncle, and he has $70M but it's all locked up in foreign currency. If you will just permit us to use your bank account to process the funds, you can keep 10%...

Letters of Marque

[iamacat]

While these brave women are in Russia, we have a good constitutional tool to encourage citizens to fight our enemies. Drying up ISIS recruitment money and eliminating their online presence would deal a measurable blow to organization that prides itself in media savvy. And it would be done for free by young people who would never consider joining Army or NSA.

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[circletimessquare]

prove it

the link goes to yahoo.com

which links to a story by RT.com, aka Russia Today

so...

yeah, pretty much, it's propaganda, you're right

How much the state department is paying you?

uh... you mean the Kremlin

although, the idea that Russia Today is actually run by the US State Dept is exactly the sort of low iq paranoid schizophrenic fantasy you sort of crackpots believe, so... carry on my wayward son

give them an award

[circletimessquare]

give anyone who repeats this feat 10x the amount of money they steal from ISIS

the CIA and FSB can trip over themselves encouraging this

Re:give them an award

[wonkey_monkey]

the CIA and FSB can trip over themselves encouraging this

What makes you think they're not doing it already, with considerably more success and efficiency?

Re:give them an award

[circletimessquare]

good!

Re:give them an award

[Anonymous Coward]

The assumption is that they're competent. An average NSA/CIA employee is about as intelligent as a DMV or post office clerk... Not to say they're mentally challenged, but... I highly doubt anything creative gets done within 10 layers of bureaucracy that these agencies have.

Re:give them an award

[Anonymous Coward]

Great idea. Then you get ISIS shills 'scamming' ISIS and we will be directly funding them ourselves...

Re:give them an award

[circletimessquare]

well, to collect the reward they have to show up at the govt office and submit to a little background examination, so...

Re:give them an award

[Anonymous Coward]

Gee, no way to exploit that system... you're stupid.

1: ISIS asshat in Zimbabwe 'steals' $1000 from ISIS.
2: CIA gives $10000 as reward.
3: Asshat forwards the $10000 to ISIS.
4: ISIS profits.

Re:give them an award

[circletimessquare]

because the govt doesn't require you report to a govt building to get your cash and undergo a registration and a background check, genius

Daesh

[Anonymous Coward]

The proper name for the group the article is calling "ISIS" is Daesh. Please use this when referring to them in future articles (partly because it is correct, and partly because they hate it very much).

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[Anonymous Coward]

You got it wrong. ISIS is run by State Department.
This is propaganda about how they protect taxpayer money that ended up in ISIS pocket.

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[circletimessquare]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

two wrongs don't make a right

[ihtoit]

...and that out of the way, when are the US Government going to publish their ISIS/ISIL/al Qaeda/Daesh funding accounts?

Doesn't matter what they want

[dbIII]

Yes and I want a pony. They are in no position to threaten anyone outside of Iraq and Syria at this point - even people in Jordan and Turkey are not currently in danger let alone Russia, Chechnya, USA, etc.

Re:Doesn't matter what they want

[Anonymous Coward]

Or, they are an email, phone call or sms away from being able to threaten anyone in the world. Lots of muslims support IS covertly. It's just not a high priority to make martyrs out of Westerners in their home countries, yet. Probably due to the very low concentration of extremists.

See: Paris massacre, caricature threats, etc.

Re:Doesn't matter what they want

[Anonymous Coward]

There have already been beheadings in England and USA attributed to ISIS. No need to stick your head in the sand; ISIS will do that for you.

Re:Doesn't matter what they want

[dbIII]

It's just not a high priority to make martyrs out of Westerners in their home countries, yet.

Rather convenient to not have a high priority to do something you cannot actually do isn't it?

Paris massacre

Home grown terror not ISIS/Daash.

Re:Doesn't matter what they want

[donaggie03]

Please link to a reputable news site reporting on a beheading in the USA attributed to ISIS.

Re:Doesn't matter what they want

[Anonymous Coward]

[citation needed]

Re:Doesn't matter what they want

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell rock have you been living under? Are you so naive as to think the only way they can strike is with their army? There have been attacks in London, France and the USA not to mention many ISIS members/sympathisers arrested in Germany, Spain, Australia, England, USA, France, Italy and many others. Many of those arrests were with confirmed plots to launch attacks, or do you think it is all just a world wide government conspiracy to hide the truth from you? All it takes is for one sympathiser to decide it is time to take action and visit the local hardware store with a couple of hundred dollars and a nice public target in mind, like someone that just ripped money off from them.

Re:Doesn't matter what they want

[Anonymous Coward]

theres the london one. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
not sure of the US one the OP is referring too.

the word misguided comes to mind....

[Anonymous Coward]

made me laugh though. gonna go around making a bunch of beheading happy people develop a personal vendetta against you.... that's chutzpah.

LOL at "gender and preference of the mark"

[Anonymous Coward]

Since less than 2% of the population are homosexual, why the constant need to refer to them?

Re:LOL at "gender and preference of the mark"

[neminem]

First of all, I dunno where you're getting that statistic from, I think that's slightly on the low side. More importantly, there are more than 7 billion people on the planet. If, say, only 1.5% of the population is gay, that's still more than a hundred million people. That is a lot of people.

Re:This is a crap propaganda post

[Anonymous Coward]

Evidently not enough to post a coherant headline.

LOL.

This scam seems to be a combination...

[Anonymous Coward]

"The scam seems to be a combination of the Nigerian Prince con"

And here I thought that a "combination" had to have at least two constituent parts...

Re: This is a crap propaganda post

[LaurenCates]

Social engineering is strongly related to computer hacking?

Three lefts, on the other hand...

[Anonymous Coward]

...do.

Can this be used to trace the money back further?

[damn_registrars]

If they could identify the source of the money, could they work it back a little further to figure out where that source got its money from? That could be useful information. I rather doubt that ISIS is getting most of its funding through a kickstarter page or other such structure involving lots of small contributions.

Catphishing

[Martin Spamer]

Surely slashdot should known that is is Catphishing not catfishing

Re:Catphishing

[Anonymous Coward]

Surely slashdot should known that is is Catphishing not catfishing

Isn't this case, isn't it really catfisting?

British police only investigate from a complaint

[Bruce66423]

So they appear to be unlucky in their choice of country. And of course there's no NEED to investigate - there are always other priorities. It is therefore surprising that the prosecutor has bothered, which raises some interesting questions.

Based on the film's usage in 2010

[Bruce66423]

Which does offer a reasonable excuse for including it in the dictionary

What?

[Anonymous Coward]

Islam is the dominant religion in Chechnya and you wonder WHY they got fined?

Re: This is a crap propaganda post

[bev_tech_rob]

How is this news anyway related to this site? Editors, please, if the long term future of this site is a priority, please make sure that the level of news don't go down like this. I can understand when you post serious or sometimes even funny news clippings which really doesn't align with the stated principles. That is fine, without some explorations around, we never really find our sweet spot. But this, this is going down a level. There are many sites which cater to these news items. I don't come here expecting to see this level of posts on Slashdot.

Modders, please...could you mod down the anonymous cowards bitching about an article being not worthy of posting on slashdot? The women used social engineering and the internet to scam ISIS out of some cash. Seems relevant to me and funny in a way.

Robbing a drug dealer is still robberty...

[mbeckman]

Unless you're the government.

Whatever happened to that deposed prince?

[Anonymous Coward]

He used to send so many letters for help, now I never hear from him. Hopefully he got that nasty bank transfer problem solved.

Hello McFly!

[jriding]

How were these girls caught???
Did ISIS call up the FBI or Interpol and say they were scammed?
Did they present the emails and their location to help the investigation? Why were they not bombed once their location was defined (ISIS I mean not the girls).

I mean WTF?!?

Re:Hello McFly!

[amicusNYCL]

I'm sure that it's not all that unusual for intelligence agencies to look for communication to/from ISIS.

What you're looking for is "Privateers"

[karlandtanya]

Not Mercenaries--we have those; just call them "private contractors" e.g. Blackwater.
Just draw up a list of "enemies" and authorize anyone who asks to attack them.

Only difference now is you don't have to be on a ship to attack a foreign power--you don't even have to leave your house!
You keep the booty as compensation for your risk & expense.

There's certainly precedent for it.

like getting in trouble for selling oregano

[Anonymous Coward]

This sounds just like getting in trouble for selling oregano to a stoner.

Hey

[EthanDemurs]

it happens to the worst of us.

Where's the CIA on this?

[backslashdot]

If we had an intelligence agency that was actually trying to win this war, they would be doing operations like this times 100. Unfortunately we don't. The CIA doesn't even bother to call and ask for information from people who were kidnapped by and escaped from ISIS. At a minimum the CIA should at least act like some of the people going over there are agents and spies, then there would be division within ISIS since they wouldn't be able to trust each other. Psychological operations like that cost no money and have no attached risk .. yet our agencies can't be bothered to do it.

Re: This is a crap propaganda post

[Anonymous Coward]

done

Black helicopters in tinfoil!

[dbIII]

The naive person is the one that has connected all those local crimes with a group in Syria that is not in contact with those local criminals.

gweihir's a big talking blowhard indeed

[Anonymous Coward]

"Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

* :)

APK

P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

Drop all charges!

[iq145]

Let them go (and shake their hands).