A Jordanian woman who came close to joining the Islamic State group described a sophisticated 14-month recruitment process by the extremists that she said landed her in a secret IS compound in Turkey with dozens of other women.

The 25-year-old was eventually persuaded by Jordanian lawmaker Mazen Dalaeen — who earlier this year failed to extract his own son from the grip of IS recruiters — to return to her family.

The case highlights the systematic grooming of potential IS recruits through daily social media exchanges and follow-up on the ground for travel arrangements — in her case an envelope stuffed with cash for a plane ticket to Turkey, handed to her by a veiled woman in her home district of Karak in central Jordan.

The woman, jobless since earning a B.A. in psychology in 2011, said IS recruiters exploited her vulnerability. “They used my frustration...promising me a new life with a job and a house,” she said in a phone conversation with Dalaeen after her return to Jordan last month.

A recording of the call was given to The Associated Press by the lawmaker, a vocal campaigner against the Islamic State group, which controls large areas of Jordan’s neighbours, Syria and Iraq, in a self-declared “caliphate.”

The woman also described her experience in a November 18 program on Jordan University’s radio station, with her speaking by phone. Ms Dalaeen provided further details in an interview with AP on Thursday. The lawmaker said the case illustrates the extremists’ deep reach into Jordan, an outspoken US ally in a Western-Arab military coalition against IS.

“Daesh has a strong organisation,” Mr Dalaeen said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. “They can penetrate young people’s minds easily and change certain thoughts.”

Jordanian government officials have played down the extent of support for IS, saying any lingering public sympathies for the group vanished after it released a video in February that showed captured Jordanian fighter pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh burning to death alive. Observers say a strong undercurrent of discontent in Jordan creates tempting targets for IS recruiters. Like other countries in the region, Jordan struggles with high youth unemployment and there are few outlets for political dissent.