One late afternoon last September, a 17-year-old Dutch boy was just starting his homework in his family’s house in Rotterdam when there was a knock at the front door. When his father opened it, eight police officers wearing balaclavas rushed past him and stormed upstairs to the boy’s bedroom. They were there to arrest the teenager on charges of rendering services to a foreign country.
The details that have emerged since have shocked both his family and Europe’s security community: the boy is accused of having been recruited by Russian agents on Telegram to spy on law enforcement organisations in The Hague using a “sniffer” device, which intercepts WiFi networks.
Through interviews with police and intelligence officials in six countries across Europe and the Middle East, the Financial Times has established that this 17-year-old is one of a growing number of teenagers who are being recruited online by hostile states for spying and sabotage.
The boy — “an avid gamer who is good with computers,” according to an interview with his father in De Telegraaf — is now awaiting trial. His father, who described his son as “naive,” remains bewildered. “We raise our children to prepare them for all kinds of dangers in life: smoking, vaping, alcohol and drugs,” he told the Dutch newspaper. “But not for something like this.”
Russia and Iran have long enlisted proxies to perform hostile acts on European soil, but targeting minors represents a new twist on their subversive gig economy. The tactic first emerged in Ukraine, where teenagers have been recruited online for sabotage, espionage and to spread propaganda. Moscow has since sought underage foot soldiers west towards Poland, the Netherlands and the U.K. Tehran, spotting an opportunity to accelerate operations against Iranian dissidents in Europe and sow chaos in Israel, was quick to follow suit.
Growing Threat to Teenagers
“Hostile states are absolutely trying to target teenagers,” says Dominic Murphy, who stepped down six weeks ago as head of the London Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism command, which oversees investigations into national security threats across England and Wales. “I was surprised by the scale of the challenge because it really seemed to come very suddenly, 18 months ago. I was then equally surprised by the volume of youngsters that were ready and willing to engage online…and how quickly this was moving to real-world activity.”
Ukrainian intelligence officials tell the FT that 21 per cent of those arrested for collaborating with Russia in 2025 were teenagers. A significant proportion of the arrests made in connection with antisemitic attacks across Europe claimed by the Iranian-backed militia group Ashab al-Yamin — also known by the longer name Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, or Hayi — involve local perpetrators in countries such as Britain, France and the Netherlands who are under 18.
Online Recruitment Tactics
The recruitment process often begins on social media platforms or gaming forums, where operatives pose as peers or offer financial incentives. Teenagers are lured with promises of money, adventure, or a sense of purpose, then gradually tasked with increasingly serious activities, from spreading propaganda to conducting surveillance or committing arson. The Dutch teenager, for instance, was allegedly paid for his work and received instructions via encrypted messaging apps.
Security officials emphasize that many of these young people do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. “They are often naive and don't realize they are being manipulated by foreign intelligence services,” said a European counterterrorism official. “It's a form of modern-day child exploitation.”
The rise of such recruitment has prompted authorities to launch awareness campaigns aimed at parents, teachers, and young people themselves. Schools are being advised to watch for signs of radicalization or unusual online behavior. Meanwhile, tech companies are under pressure to better monitor and take down accounts linked to state-sponsored recruitment.
International Response
Governments across Europe and beyond are grappling with how to address this emerging threat. Some have called for stricter regulations on encrypted messaging apps, while others emphasize the need for international cooperation to track and disrupt recruitment networks. The cases also raise difficult questions about how to prosecute minors who may have been coerced or manipulated.
As the Dutch teenager awaits trial, his story serves as a cautionary tale of how quickly a young person can become entangled in international espionage. “We never imagined something like this could happen to our family,” his father said. “We need to talk to our children about these dangers, just as we talk about drugs and alcohol.”
