The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that it seized 13 internet domains allegedly being used by Chinese operatives to recruit former and current American officials with security clearances.
Several unnamed individuals are accused of using these websites as a front for fake “consulting companies to recruit individuals in the United States to obtain sensitive and possibly classified information in exchange for monetary payments.”
“A lot of this information came from doing interviews, interviews with people who came forward that something didn’t seem right. They provided information and said, ‘Hey, this is kind of weird, we’re kind of getting paid by a cryptocurrency or an online payment system that’s not typical,” said Dan Wierzbicki, the special agent in charge of the counterintelligence and cyber division of the FBI’s Washington field office in an interview.
The FBI believes that the individuals behind the scheme acted on behalf of the Chinese government “wittingly or unwittingly.”
This operation follows a pattern of heightened economic and political espionage. A report from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) last year accused foreign actors of attempting to hire federal employees and capitalizing on the Trump administration’s plans for layoffs across various companies.
The Five Eyes intelligence alliance — comprising the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — recently issued a joint warning detailing how Chinese military intelligence targets Western personnel.
Operating under the guise of think tanks or private businesses, these operatives post fraudulent job listings for foreign policy and defense analysts on legitimate recruiting sites. Once a candidate applies, handlers pressure them for sensitive information, offering cryptocurrency and online payments for “reports” to effectively conceal their true identities.
“For too long, the Chinese government has tried to exploit U.S. government employees behind the cover of fake companies and phony job postings. Today, we shut them down. These seizures will prevent these fraudulent sites from being used to target Americans with access to sensitive information. The FBI will continue to use every tool available to protect Americans and our national security from this threat,” said Special Agent in Charge Daniel Wierzbicki of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Counterintelligence and Cyber Division.
Hellbound and Down 