Chinese spies are using LinkedIn and other job websites to target UK government and military staff with access to classified or sensitive information, MI5 has warned. The alert, issued jointly by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance—the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand—highlights an 'aggressive' online recruitment strategy.
Spies for Beijing's military intelligence pose as HR consultants for legitimate-looking companies, advertising non-existent jobs such as foreign policy or defence analysts. Successful candidates are pressured to provide 'non-public' information for unspecified clients linked to the Chinese government, the agencies said.
Targets include security clearance holders, military personnel, and those with indirect access to government information such as academics, journalists, and thinktank employees. The spies scrutinise CVs and conduct virtual interviews, questioning candidates about their access to government contacts or military activities.
Candidates are asked to write trial reports on sensitive topics, then pushed for more information via encrypted messaging. They are paid between a few hundred and several thousand dollars per report through platforms like PayPal, Payoneer and cryptocurrency. MI5 previously warned that Chinese agents have sought to lure at least 20,000 Britons with potential job offers.
A Chinese embassy spokesperson dismissed the allegations as 'entirely fabricated and malicious slander', adding that Five Eyes intelligence gathering was 'the real threat to peace-loving countries'.
