Love & lies: Why seduction is the weapon of choice in spying

Jyoti Malhotra, a Hisar-based woman travel vlogger, who has been arrested on charges of spying and passing sensitive information to Pakistan, is suspected to have been honeytrapped by ISI operatives. Investigators claim she entered into an intimate relationship with a Pakistani intelligence officer and travelled to Bali with him. Fifteen years ago, another Indian woman, Madhuri Gupta, was honeytrapped by Pakistani intelligence.

Gupta was a diplomat who held the position of second secretary (press & information) at the Indian high commission in Islamabad. A Pakistani intelligence official, Jamshed, wooed her and manipulated her emotions to extract secret information from her. Numerous cases have come up in recent years of the ISI honeytrapping Indian men who held sensitive posts in departments related to security and defence.

Faking love and romance to compromise a target has been an old trick in the spy trade, dating back to the World Wars. Famous thriller writer John Le Carre, known for his bestseller 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', is said to have coined the term 'honeytrap' to describe such a tactic. Another term, 'sexpionage', is also used to describe such spying operations.

How spies are trained in sexpionage
The use of love, sex and romance in espionage operations is not merely a cinematic trope. It is a historically documented and psychologically potent technique that intelligence agencies have employed with striking effectiveness, especially during World War II and the Cold War when sexpionage became a common tool for many intelligence agencies. Sexpionage is not merely improvisation by spies but a tool acquired after rigorous training.

From the Cold War to modern-day cyber warfare, the manipulation of human relationships has been a consistent tactic in intelligence work. The KGB, Mossad, the CIA and other intelligence services have long recruited agents specifically to seduce, entrap or emotionally engage targets in order to extract information, induce defection, or gain leverage.

Stasi, the secret police of East Germany during the Cold War, trained male agents to seduce lonely West German secretaries in government agencies. These women, often older and isolated, were emotionally manipulated into sharing classified information. During the same time, the Soviet Union used female agents known as "swallows" and male agents termed "ravens" to seduce targets and gather intelligence.

A research paper 'Sex-espionage as a method of intelligence and security agencies' written in 2014 by Prof. Saša Mijalković of the Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, Belgrade, detailed how Soviet spy agency KGB trained its spies for sexpionage: "Thus, for instance, “one of the best secret services ever – KGB, in addition to all classic and modern technical methods, used the techniques of ‘sex-espionage’. It even developed specialist courses of instruction for such purposes. According to the Russian newspaper Pravda, a girl named Vera testified that the KGB recruited pretty girls (frequently from rural areas, but also recognized artists – ballerinas, singers, etc.), promising them a life of luxury if they agreed to fulfil their civic duty and become ‘sex-agents’," says the research paper.

"The training sought to free them of any shyness and restraint, practically teaching them sex techniques, lesbian and heterosexual orgies, showing them perverse pornographic material, etc. ‘Practical instruction’ was filmed and subsequently analysed in detail. The girls were allegedly/reportedly able and willing to perform any task, because they were told that they were “soldiers and their bodies – their rifles.” This gave rise to a ‘tasteless’ joke according to which, allegedly, the “KGB did not ask the women to stand up but to get laid for their country.” Specialist service was also provided for men. Apart from the Russian secret service, the British, German and Chinese secret services were also alleged to have resorted to sex espionage, whereas the Israeli Mossad is regarded to be a leader in the area of sex-espionage."

"Some of the secret services even established specialised internal organisational units engaging exclusively in ‘sex espionage’," says the research paper. "Thus, for example, the East German Stasi founded a special department called ‘Romeo spies 2’, whereas the British MI5 used sex-espionage through an intelligence checkpoint in Belgium, Eve Club, and the Soviet KGB had numerous checkpoints for sex-spies and so on."

Why sexpionage is such a potent spying tool
What explains rampant use of sexpionage and honeytraps is the psychology of human vulnerability. Intelligence agencies know that love can often conquer patriotism. Humans are wired for attachment. Emotional bonds, once formed, can override logic and ethical considerations. A target who believes he or she is in love or deeply romantically connected to someone is less likely to question that person’s motives. This emotional fog dulls suspicion and sharpens loyalty — even to the enemy nation's cause.

Illicit sexual encounters can carry with them a burden of secrecy, fear or shame. Spies exploit this by recording liaisons or extracting compromising information during moments of vulnerability. The resulting “kompromat” (compromising material) can be used for blackmail or coercion.

Many high-value targets are in positions of power and may overestimate their ability to control situations including secret relationships. Narcissistic personalities, in particular, are susceptible to flattery and romantic attention, making them ideal prey. Narcissism and sexual risk-taking are said to be common traits among compromised agents.

The use of romance and sex in spying isn’t always about seduction. Sometimes it’s about cultivating long-term relationships under false pretenses. These can last for months or years, with the operative posing as a spouse or lover. This is especially effective because trust deepens over time, increasing the quality and quantity of information the target shares. Cover stories are more believable — a long-term romantic partner often has access to secure devices, travel and conversations. In such operations, targets are more willing to make sacrifices for someone they perceive as a partner or soulmate.