Foxy Spy's Panicked Phone Call Triggered Bust

The FBI’s plan to take down the Russian spy ring was put into high gear because of a phone call to daddy. Anna Chapman, who’s become semi-famous thanks to her Bond-girl looks, got spooked after a suspicious meeting with an informant in Connecticut, and put in a panicked call to her KGB dad. That forced the FBI to spring its trap sooner than it wanted, for fear that Moscow would tell the spies to flee, the Washington Post reports.

The FBI had hoped to trick Chapman into committing more serious crimes than she typically did, by posing as their handlers. But after meeting her so-called handler, who asked her to give another spy a fake passport, Chapman smelled a rat. She bought a new cellphone and called her dad, who told her not to go through with the fake mission. The FBI monitored the call, and, knowing that another spy was returning to Moscow the next day, immediately rounded up the ring. (More Anna Chapman stories.)