Chinese intelligence operatives are posing as job recruiters on professional networking and employment platforms to trick government employees, military personnel and others with access to sensitive information into disclosing confidential details, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance has warned.
In a joint security bulletin issued by intelligence agencies from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the alliance said China’s military intelligence services are using fake job advertisements and recruitment approaches to gather privileged military, political and economic information.
Chinese agents are reportedly advertising fictitious positions such as foreign policy or defence analysts on platforms including LinkedIn. The operatives allegedly pose as human resources consultants or employees of seemingly legitimate consultancies and think tanks that appear to be based outside China.
How the Recruitment Scheme Works
The agencies said applicants are often pressured during the recruitment process to provide non-public information, including through written reports and assessments.
Recruits may initially receive a few hundred dollars for reports but could later be offered larger sums in exchange for increasingly sensitive information.
The warning said targets include security clearance holders, military personnel, journalists, academics, think tank employees and others with direct or indirect access to government information.
Chinese operatives are also believed to be using job sites such as Indeed and Upwork alongside LinkedIn. Recruiters allegedly scrutinise CVs to identify candidates who may have access to valuable information before conducting virtual interviews designed to assess their knowledge of government contacts, military operations or policy matters.
Intelligence Concerns Over Sensitive Data
The final stage often involves asking candidates to prepare trial reports on subjects such as China’s foreign relations, defence issues or trade policy.
Conversations may later move to encrypted messaging platforms, where recruits are pressed for more sensitive information.
The Five Eyes alliance warned that even unclassified information can be valuable to Beijing.
“Certain types of data can place the lives of frontline military or other personnel at risk, can weaken our economic prosperity, and enable interference in our democratic processes,” the agencies said.
Intelligence agencies said they have identified individuals who were deceived by such schemes, leading to criminal prosecutions, job losses and the revocation of security clearances.
China Rejects Allegations
UK security minister Dan Jarvis urged government and military personnel to remain vigilant.
“I urge all government and military personnel to follow the National Protective Security Authority’s advice to spot signs of online targeting and avoid inadvertently compromising our security,” he said.
The warning comes amid growing concerns among Western governments over alleged Chinese espionage activities. Intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned about threats from China, as well as Russia and Iran.
China rejected the allegations. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK described the claims as “purely false” and “malicious slander”.
The spokesperson also accused the Five Eyes alliance of being “the world’s largest intelligence organisation” and claimed its members were the real threat to peace-loving countries.
The alert follows previous warnings by MI5 about Chinese intelligence efforts to recruit individuals working in sensitive sectors through professional networking platforms.
British intelligence agencies have previously warned that at least 20,000 Britons may have been approached through such methods.
