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Two Russians trying to sell fake military secrets to CIA receive FSB warning

A Russian programmer was trying to sell fake stories he said were secret information to the CIA

© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

CHITA, September 20. /TASS/. Two residents from a remote Siberian town called Borzya in the Zabaykalsky region tried to get money from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in exchange for alleged secret information that they actually fabricated, a source in the regional directorate of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS on Tuesday.

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"In 2015, a Borzya resident born in 1993, left a message on the CIA website suggesting he sell some secret information on the Russian military to US intelligence. He soon got an answer as the CIA took this proposition seriously and went for it. The agency started inquiring about the military facilities’ routine, in particular. However, the CIA representatives chose to avoid the topic of money at the time," the source said.

Then the adventurous young man, who was working as programmer and did not actually know any military secrets, turned to a 20-year-old friend who was doing compulsory military service in one of the local units. The soldier didn’t know any military secrets either, so the two friends started sending the CIA fake stories.

"Russia’s FSB has officially warned the young men that their actions create conditions that lead to committing crimes. There are no legal grounds for pressing criminal charges as the Borzya residents are not privy to any secret information. A warning was enough for them to put an end to any correspondence with the CIA," the regional FSB directorate added saying they were surprised that the US intelligence would take an interest in information coming from such a dubious source.

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