Chinese spies are posing as online recruiters for fake companies to target individuals with access to classified information and compromise them for Beijing’s benefit, Britain’s MI5 top intelligence agency warned Wednesday.
The warning serves as the most-recent reminder of the constant threats to Britain’s national security coming from China’s communist regime and its military intelligence services — this time, targeting professional networking sites such as Linkedin and online job platforms such as Upwork.
MI5, in a joint bulletin released alongside security agencies of the Five Eyes alliance — U.K., U.S., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand — Detailed the methodology employed by the Chinese spies’s scheme to target and compromise individuals with access to classified information.
The ultimate goal of the Chinese spies, MI5 stressed, is to acquire sensitive military, political, and economy intelligence that Beijing can then use as strategic and tactical advantage against the U.K., the U.S., and their allies. Security clearance holders — particularly, those in defense, foreign affairs, and security and intelligence, are those at risk of falling prey to the Chinese spies scheme. Similarly, Military personnel, and individuals with direct or indirect access to government information, such as journalists, writers, or academics, were also found to be at risk.
The scheme sees the Chinese spies falsely present themselves as online recruiters or consultants claiming to represent fake companies located outside of China. The spies, acting as “recruiters,” post online job advertisements on professional networking platforms and “gig work” offers on freelance websites to lure potential victims.
Upon receiving applications, the resumes are then “ranked” based on the likelihood that every person has access to sensitive information deemed valuable for the Chinese regime before moving to an “initial testing” phase that sees the fake recruiters inquire targets on several China-related topics. Should it be required, the Chinese spies hold virtual interviews with the targets while concealing their identities — probing applicants about their access to government contacts.
At some point in the recruitment process, intelligence officers typically move the conversation to a more “secure” platform, such as encrypted messaging applications. The false recruits receive anywhere from hundreds to “several thousand” dollars per each report submitted, with additional monetary bonuses for increasingly sensitive information. The funds are wired through online third-party payment platforms and through cryptocurrency.
“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,” MI5 explained. “Applicants who provide their resumes and other personally identifiable information risk compromises of personal privacy.”
The British intelligence agency reminded that those found engaging in the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information could face prosecution under national laws related to espionage. The security bulletin points out that Five Eyes agencies have already identified individuals who have undertaken these activities, leading to criminal prosecutions, job losses, and security-clearance revocation.
The BBC reports that a spokesperson at the Chinese embassy in London condemned the security bulletin as “purely false” and “malicious slander.” Instead, the spokesperson accused the Five Eyes alliance as the “real threat to peace-loving countries.”
“We have taken robust action to defend our country and will continue to tackle hostile actions from a range of states including China,” Security Minister Dan Jarvis said in a statement, per the BBC. “A number of recent cases show the strength of the powers we have to bring to justice those that undertake acts on behalf of a foreign state.”
As Breitbart News reported in October, Chinese regime actors represent a national security threat to the U.K. “every day” and one of the main foreign power threats alongside Russia and Iran.
“Do Chinese state actors present a U.K. national security threat? The answer is of course yes they do, every day,” Sir Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said at the time.
Sir Ken’s remarks came just days after a collapsed prosecution against alleged Beijing spies and an asserted massive breach of Westminster secret communications. Last month, two British-Chinese dual nationals were found guilty of accessing Home Office systems to spy on dissidents of the Chinese regime living in the U.K.