For nearly four years, many Syrian political activists, most of which are anti-Assad, became online friends with a Syrian girl named Zeina Saftli, a dentist who resides in Istanbul, Turkey, and who rushes to support diaspora Syrians amid difficult times they post about on Facebook. Except that there is no Zeina Saftli.
According to hundreds of Syrian online commentators, Zeina Saftli's account turned out to be a fake one where photos and life events were mostly copied from other real accounts.
Translation: "I wouldn't have known this Zeina Saftli if not for her support messages during the hardship I was going through [...]"
Zeina Saftli's account copied photos from a Golan-based Syrian named Bludan Bshara for years, and friends she added on Facebook had no doubts over her real identity until very recently.
Zeina Saftli's account had introduced a Syrian dentist whose brother was killed due to torture in Syrian prisons, which helped her easily win the hearts of families of other victims, who felt they shared her pain.
Revealing the truth behind her fraudulent personality came as a result of recent posts by Zeina Saftli's account, announcing the sudden death of her fiance, only a week before their wedding date, which prompted hundreds of friends to post their condolences and express their deep sympathy for the non-existent Zeina Saftli.
Translation: "Since I'm at a young age and considering marriage, my heart was crushed when I heard about the death of Zeina Saftli's fiance a week before their wedding. I felt so sad, sent her supportive messages, and told my family and friends about her until I was told she's nothing but a social media illusion."
As soon as Zeina Saftli's account posted photos of the alleged fiance, some individuals identified him as a Syrian man who passed away recently in the Golan town of Majdal Shams.
One user also wrote that he had noticed Zeina's unusual willingness to avoid meeting when he contacted her for an appointment at her clinic, one she kept postponing.
In response to rising questions over the real identity of Zeina Saftli, the account was deactivated and its user was unreachable, triggering questions over the real moderators of the account and whether or not they had political motives for this years-long scheme.
Some online people speculated whether the account was created by agents working for the Syrian government led by Bashar Al-Assad, especially since it mainly made friends with outspoken critics of his regime and tried to gather information about opposition figures outside Turkey.
Meanwhile, others believed it was likely an intelligence effort by the Israeli Mossad to infiltrate Syrians abroad.
