Chinese espionage warning puts job platforms under scrutiny

China’s intelligence services are using online job platforms to approach people with access to sensitive government, military and policy information, the US and its intelligence allies warned this week.

The warning, issued by the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, marks a fresh attempt by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to expose what they described as an expanding Chinese effort to use professional networking and recruitment sites for espionage.

The bulletin said Chinese military intelligence officers are posing as recruiters, consultants and representatives of private companies to identify and cultivate people who may have access to classified or privileged information.

Intelligence officers post or send job offers for roles such as foreign policy analyst, defense consultant or regional specialist, according to the bulletin. Candidates are then screened through online interviews and asked to write paid reports on subjects including China’s foreign relations, defense policy or trade. The initial requests may appear harmless, but the agencies warned that targets can later be pushed for more sensitive information and moved to encrypted messaging platforms.

The bulletin named platforms including LinkedIn, Indeed and Upwork, adding that recruits may be paid from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars per report through channels including PayPal, Western Union and cryptocurrency.

The targets are not limited to serving intelligence officers or senior officials. The Five Eyes warning said people with security clearances, military personnel, those posted in the Indo-Pacific, government contractors, think-tank employees, journalists and others with indirect or peripheral access to government information may also be approached.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has separately warned that China and other foreign governments use professional networking sites to target people who hold or have held US government security clearances.

It said fake profiles, lucrative payments, career opportunities and requests for written reports are among the signs of hostile targeting.

The new bulletin also shows how espionage has adapted to the professional habits of a more mobile workforce. Officials, military veterans, researchers, analysts and consultants often advertise their expertise online, especially after leaving government. That visibility is useful for legitimate work. It also allows intelligence services to identify people by region, clearance, technical skill, ministry experience or past posting without making a direct approach through traditional channels.

China has rejected such allegations in the past and says it is itself a victim of foreign spying. But Western intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that professional networking sites have become a useful recruitment channel for Chinese intelligence operations.

The FBI’s public material cites the case of former CIA officer Kevin Mallory, who was targeted through a fake professional networking profile and later convicted of conspiring to transmit national defense information to China.