In espionage terminology, honeypot and honey trap are terms for an investigative practice involving the use of romantic or sexual relationships for interpersonal, political, or monetary gain, and are often seen in media portrayals of female espionage. See Recruitment of spies for real-world examples.
In Super Troopers, Captain John O'Hagen refers to the honeypot when Foster falls for, and is presumably betrayed by, female officer Ursula Hanson.
In The Green Berets, Colonel Cai uses his sister-in-law, a top Vietnamese/French fashion model named Lin, as a honey trap to lure a North Vietnamese general commanding Viet Cong forces to a former French colonial mansion so he can be captured by Special Forces personnel.
In The Interview Dave Skylark accuses CIA Agent Lacey of being a honeypot when she recruits him to assassinate Kim Jong-un.
In Munich, Avner says: "beware the local honey trap" of a seductive woman at a bar who turns out to be an assassin, killing one of the team. She is later tracked and murdered in retaliation.
Traffic features a same-sex honeypot trap
In, Sam Tyler arrests the henchman of a local Mr. Big, only to be humiliated in a honey trap.
The M*A*S*H episode "Are you now, Margaret?" from September 24, 1979
In Bad Boys 2, Martin Lawrence's character refers to his sister as a honeypot for the DEA.
In Battlestar Galactica, a copy of Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, pretending to be the real Valerii, staged a rescue of the stranded Helo on occupied Caprica. The rescue mission was an elaborate ruse to get Helo to fall in love with Valerii, but backfired when Valerii also fell in love and betrayed her own people to flee with Helo.
In his book Kotilaisen kotiryssäLasse Lehtinen describes a failed honey trap attempt: Lea Kotilainen is well aware of her husband's whereabouts and would react on Ostap Nepeipivo's extortion attempt on photographs with indifference.
In the Tom Clancy novel Rainbow Six, Kirk McLean is used as a honey trap in order to recruit subjects for testing the Shiva virus.
In the game ', the player character can defend a Republic agent accused of murder. It's revealed that the murder victim was a Sith woman sent to seduce the Republic agent and gain information.
In ', EVA is a honeypot as well as a double agent.
In the television seriesArcher, the Honeypot is a commonly referred to style of espionage. It is specifically dealt with in the fifth episode of the series, named Honeypot, in which the main character, Archer, is sent on an unorthodox mission required to seduce and have sex with another man in order to recover a video disc.
In The Recruit, Bridget Moynahan seduces Colin Farrell in a bar as part of her CIA training. After successfully leading him out of the bar, she utters 'Op completed', and says her operation was to prevent him from completing his.
In the television series Criminal Minds, Emily Prentiss is a honeypot who seduces former IRA terrorist Ian Doyle.
In the television series Strike Back, a honey pot agent is ordered to sleep with Sgt. John Porter in order to boost his confidence.
In the 1970 filmDarling Lili starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson, Julie Andrews plays a German spy in World War I using her womanly charms to secure Allied secrets from an American officer, played by Rock Hudson.
In the novel Casino Royale and its 2006 film adaptation, Vesper Lynd is a double agent—for SMERSH in the novel, and Quantum in the film. In the film, it is revealed that Vesper Lynd was herself recruited by a male honeypot, and Bond's search for this male honeypot drives Bond's actions throughout much of the film's sequel, Quantum of Solace.
