ISIS terrorist group supporters are using iTunes vouchers to fund the terror group
ISIS sympathisers are funding the terror group using iTunes vouchers, it has been revealed.
iTunes or Google Play gift cards are purchased by ISIS supporters, after which the terrorist group turn it into cold hard cash by selling the voucher codes online, according to a terror monitoring group.
This is a simple way for ISIS fans to get cash into the hands of the terrorists without having to transfer money via banks or withdraw large amounts of hard currency.
ISIS leaders have been advising supporters via encrypted messaging service Telegram to purchase iTunes and Google Play cards.
Terror monitoring organisation SITE Intelligence Group, which discovered the trade, says supporters have also been urged to send funds using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Militants make the purchase and then send the activation code via email to fund-raisers acting for the group.
They then turn the voucher codes into hard cash by selling them to a middleman or online at a slight loss.
In 2010 five men from Rochdale were jailed for using iTunes music gift vouchers to launder money in an internet scam.
The men used stolen credit card numbers to buy £750,000 worth of vouchers to sell at cheaper prices through eBay.
Last month it was revealed that ISIS was funding terror through talcum powder sales to the West.
The fanatics make millions illegally mining minerals in Afghanistan to export, a report revealed.
Nick Donovan, of report authors Global Witness, said: ‘This report shows the insidious way in which insurgents have become involved in talc mining and the threat of groups like Isis becoming more involved.’
Source: Daily Mail