Five Eyes Warn China’s Spies Recruit Government and Military Personnel via LinkedIn and Indeed

Security agencies of the Five Eyes alliance warned on Wednesday that Chinese spies are attempting to recruit and compromise government and military personnel through professional networking sites and job platforms including LinkedIn and Indeed.

The joint bulletin said Chinese intelligence officers and their accomplices pose as consultants, human resources professionals, or think tank staff, placing online job advertisements for roles including foreign policy and defense analysts.

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The Five Eyes agencies said China’s spies “ultimately seek to acquire privileged military, political and economic intelligence that can provide China with a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes.”

The warning also described a five-step plan for recruitment operations, including the commissioning of reports based on sensitive information about China, defense, and the Indo-Pacific, with China willing to pay between a few hundred to several thousand dollars per report.

A separate report said the joint statement from the FBI, Britain's MI5, and the national intelligence agencies of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand described an aggressive online recruitment strategy in which intelligence officers or their associates pose as employees of private consulting firms, think tanks, or staffing firms.

The agencies said successful candidates are pressured to provide “non-public” information for unspecified clients associated with the Chinese government, and that even non-classified information can be of use when combined with other intelligence already acquired.

20 Minutes

The Guardian reported that recruits are paid between a few hundred and up to several thousand dollars a report on payment platforms including PayPal, Payoneer, Zelle, Skrill and Wise, as well as Western Union, e-transfer and cryptocurrency.

The Guardian also said the bulletin warns that anyone involved in the unauthorised disclosure of information could face prosecution for spying, and that MI5 has previously warned about Chinese spies seeking to obtain information by using LinkedIn to recruit Britons working in sensitive areas.

Beyond LinkedIn recruitment, the CIA released a Mandarin-language video on Thursday February 12 on its YouTube channel calling Chinese citizens to contact it, according to L'Express and 20 Minutes.

The video’s voiceover includes the line: “Every day that passes, it becomes clearer that the only thing our party leaders are interested in defending is their own pockets.”

RFI reported that Beijing denounced the effort as an attempted “infiltration and sabotage” by “anti-Chinese forces,” and said China promises to take “all necessary measures” to defend its national security.

In 20 Minutes, the CIA video is described as explicitly calling for information about high-ranking Chinese leaders and several sensitive sectors, and it says the CIA can be reached “safely via its hidden service on the Tor network.”