FBI is running Facebook recruitment ads targeting Russians in Washington

[fleur-de-lisa]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/02/politics/fbi-facebook-russia-ads/index.html

By Donie O'Sullivan and David Shortell, CNN, Updated 3:04 PM ET, Wed October 2, 2019

The FBI is running ads on Facebook in the Washington DC area seemingly designed to target and recruit Russian spies as well as those who know about their work, CNN has learned.

One ad seen by CNN features a stock photo of a young woman at her graduation with her family. Russian text overlaid on the image reads, "For your future, for the future of your family."

The ads direct to a page on the FBI Washington DC field office's website that has details in English and in Russian about the counterintelligence team and the address of the FBI field office in the city, "visit us in person," it reads. The FBI had three ads in Russian running on Facebook when they were discovered by CNN earlier this week, but a source familiar with the ad-buy confirmed they have been running throughout the summer.

The FBI did not confirm any details about the ad campaign, how many people saw the ads or if anyone responded to them. However, the ads, which are run from the FBI's verified Facebook page are publicly viewable through a Facebook tool that tracks active advertising campaigns on the platform.

[Mike 03]

1. Real ads? Psyops? Trolling Russian trolls?