Tentacles cost extra

I assume sexpionage agents take courses on sexual technique. I'd rather be a trainer or a training aid than a mark. I'll also assume some targets know how to play the spies to get what they want without giving up anything. Some targets must be amused when the first contacts are made. It is likely so obvious. If suddenly you are getting advances from babes hotter than you've ever gotten, red flag! Swallowwell isn't that smart though. As alluded above, he thought it was due to his brains and good looks.

quote:

Originally posted by SBrooks:
Thanks. Interesting to hear that.

To add to all that, I was focusing on the blackmail type of “trap,” but in the history of espionage there have been many more women spies who were successful by using sex and infatuation in the old, traditional ways to elicit cooperation from their targets rather than coercion though the threat of exposure. The most famous example was Mata Hari, but there have been many others. The targets in those cases were usually exploited unwittingly, either by being indiscreet with what they discussed with their lovers or in some instances carelessly allowing them access to sensitive documents and materials. Security of classified documents tended to be much more lax at one time, for example in the early 20th century, than in later years after security measures were tightened up by most countries.

The most recent example I am aware of that involved eliciting cooperation through sex and, presumably, personal relationship was the case of Marine Sergeant Clayton Lonetree who was suborned by a woman Soviet KGB agent. Again, though, despite having read a large pile of books and a few other sources on espionage operations by both the US and foreign powers, I don’t recall any that were conducted by the US that involved “sexpionage.”