The warning marks one of the clearest public statements the “Five Eyes” intelligence partners have ever made about an active, ongoing foreign intelligence operation targeting everyday job seekers.
The US and its “Five Eyes” intelligence partners have issued an unprecedented joint warning that Chinese military spies are systematically infiltrating professional job platforms to recruit government insiders and security clearance holders into handing over classified information.
The bulletin, titled “Safeguarding Our Secrets” and published on Wednesday, was jointly released by the US’s FBI, the UK’s MI5, Canada’s CSIS, Australia’s ASIO and New Zealand’s NZSIS – the “Five Eyes” partnership that forms the backbone of Western intelligence sharing.
The warning marks one of the clearest public statements the alliance has ever made about an active, ongoing foreign intelligence operation targeting everyday job seekers.
At the heart of the scheme, according to the bulletin, are Chinese military intelligence officers who construct elaborate fake identities, posing as HR consultants and recruiters working for seemingly legitimate private companies based outside China.
These cover companies advertise analyst positions on mainstream platforms including LinkedIn, Indeed and the freelance marketplace Upwork, sites used daily by millions of professionals worldwide.
The targets are not chosen at random. Agencies said recruiters rank resumes based on the likelihood that an applicant has access to sensitive government information. Security clearance holders, defence specialists and military personnel, particularly those with knowledge of Indo-Pacific operations, are considered prime targets. But the net is cast wider than might be expected: academics, journalists, think tank researchers and freelance writers with even peripheral links to government policy or defence sectors are also considered attractive targets.
The recruitment playbook is methodical. Initial contact is made through a job application. Interviews are conducted virtually, with recruiters concealing their true identities while quietly probing candidates about their access to government contacts or military activities. Candidates are then asked to produce a trial report on topics such as China’s bilateral relations or Indo-Pacific defence matters – an innocuous-sounding test that serves to establish willingness and capability.
From there, the pressure escalates. Recruits are told that future assignments require increasingly privileged or non-public information. Conversations are migrated to encrypted messaging platforms to avoid detection. Payment ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per report – is made through third-party services including PayPal, Wise, Zelle and cryptocurrency, often from accounts belonging to individuals the recruit has never met.
The consequences of participation can be severe. The report noted that Five Eyes agencies have already identified individuals involved in these activities, resulting in criminal prosecutions, job losses and security clearance revocations. Even sharing unclassified information carries risk – agencies warn that routine details about government policy or military installations can be pieced together with other intelligence to build a damaging operational picture.
