The most important espionage agencies from five Western countries (U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, a group known as the ‘Five Eyes’) have issued an urgent alert. They have discovered that Chinese government spies are posing as regular job recruiters on the Internet.
Their goal is to deceive freelancers, scientists, journalists, university professors, and independent analysts into unwittingly providing them with confidential information from their countries.
To carry out their deception, these spies use a very clever psychological strategy that unfolds in stages. First, they create very professional fake profiles on legitimate sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, or Upwork, where they present themselves as directors of consulting firms or research centers that do not actually exist.
They then contact their targets, offering them a side job or collaboration. They request a simple and public report, and upon delivery, they pay quickly and very generously through platforms like PayPal, Wise, or Zelle, as well as Western Union. In this way, they earn their trust.
The next step is to offer other ‘jobs’ outside of the aforementioned job platforms. They then ask to establish communication through encrypted messaging apps and start paying with cryptocurrencies or unusual transfers to avoid leaving a trace.
Subsequently, they begin to request more specific data, such as internal opinions from their company, drafts of government laws, or confidential documents. Thus, freelancers end up collaborating, almost without realizing it, with espionage for another country.
Five Eyes warns that revealing certain types of information can endanger the lives of military personnel and others, in addition to weakening economic prosperity, while experts who provide resumes and personal data may compromise their privacy.
What can happen to them
The agencies also emphasize that collaboration with these spies can lead to revocations of security clearances, job loss, and even prison sentences.
Last year, British security officials already warned Parliament that Chinese state agents were using the professional social network LinkedIn to connect with MPs, lords, and parliamentary staff.
