A fake-CIA-secrets plot by two men in Siberia who tried to sell made-up military information to American intelligence for cash was foiled by Russia's security service, but only after the U.S. spy agency "took the bait."
The would-be spies from the town of Borzi reportedly emailed the CIA offering to sell the information, reported Agence France-Presse.
The "allegedly secret" intelligence included information "about railroad cars leaving for Ukraine and the placement of missiles aimed at the United States," a security service spokeswoman told RIA Novosti.
The Russian security agency told TASS news wire that the CIA "took the bait" and "began to start posing questions, especially about the situation at military sites."
The pair wasn't offered any money, and after agents from the FSB eventually caught up with them the fact all the information was fake turned out to be their saving grace.
"They were given a warning, since this isn't worth a criminal charge. Naturally they had no secrets and just made up the information," the agency said.
Pro-Kremlin media portrayed the attempted con as a case of cunning Russians getting one over on the United States.
"The James Bonds from the depths of Siberia led the CIA agents up the garden path," the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid wrote.
One of the men -- a 20-year-old IT specialist called Dmitry -- told the daily that he got in touch with the CIA via their website and had asked for "good money".
"We saw a howitzer at the station -- we have a motor-rifle unit nearby -- and wrote that a troop train was sent to Ukraine," he said."We also made up a story about missile systems aimed at America."
The computer nerd had never served in the army. To add authenticity, he asked a 23-year-old unemployed friend who had done military service for help, the daily reported.
Russia and the US are currently locked in their worst stand-off since the Cold War over the Ukraine crisis and suspicions of increased spying both both sides have ratcheted up.
The relaxed treatment of the duo contrasts with the FSB's arrest last year of a young mother for allegedly phoning the Ukrainian embassy about troop movements in her town west of Moscow.
The woman, Svetlana Davydova, allegedly gave the report as the conflict in eastern Ukraine intensified in April 2014.
She was imprisoned and charged with treason, although Russia ultimately dropped the charges.