Five Eyes warn of Chinese spies posing as job recruiters

China’s military intelligence services are using Western professional networking sites and online job platforms to target Five Eyes nationals with access to sensitive information, the intelligence agencies of the partnership have warned, the UK Defence Journal understands.

The warning was set out in a joint bulletin, Safeguarding Our Secrets, published on 3 June 2026 by ASIO of Australia, Canada’s CSIS, the FBI in the United States, MI5 in the UK and New Zealand’s NZSIS. According to the agencies, intelligence officers or their affiliates pose as employees of private consultancies, think tanks or human resources firms and place online job advertisements for foreign policy and defence analysts, before pressuring successful candidates to provide non-public information for unspecified clients linked to the Chinese government. The ultimate aim, the bulletin says, is to acquire privileged military, political and economic intelligence that gives China a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes.

The agencies set out who is most at risk, naming security clearance holders specialising in defence, foreign affairs and security and intelligence; military personnel, including those stationed in the Indo-Pacific with knowledge of regional capabilities and activities; and people with indirect or peripheral access to government information, such as academics, journalists, freelance writers and think tank employees, or anyone with links to the defence, security, policy and economic sectors.

The bulletin describes the recruitment as running through several stages, it begins with recruiters posting job advertisements on networking and freelance platforms including LinkedIn, Indeed and Upwork, with resumes then ranked by how likely the applicant is to have access to sensitive information. Where interviews are held, they take place virtually, with the recruiter concealing their identity and beginning to probe applicants about access to government contacts; military applicants may be asked about their roles, unit activities, home base or naval vessel.

Candidates are then asked to write a trial report on a subject such as China’s bilateral relations, the Indo-Pacific and related defence issues, or international trade. For subsequent reports, the agencies say, recruits are told the client requires more privileged information, and at some point the conversation is typically moved to a more secure platform such as an encrypted messaging application. Payment for each report ranges from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, with more money offered for increasingly sensitive material, made through services including PayPal, Payoneer, Zelle, Skrill, Wise, Western Union, e-transfer and cryptocurrency, often from an account belonging to someone the recruit has never dealt with. Throughout, the bulletin says, the intelligence officers pose as recruiters or consultants representing fake but often legitimate-looking cover companies claiming to be based in countries other than China.

The agencies stress that the danger does not depend on a target holding classified material. Even unclassified information on government policy, or on military strategy, capabilities and installations, can be combined with more sensitive reporting to build a comprehensive operational picture, the bulletin says, and certain data can place the lives of frontline personnel at risk, weaken economic prosperity and enable interference in democratic processes.

Applicants who hand over resumes and other personal details also risk compromising their own privacy.

The bulletin warns that those who disclose sensitive or classified information without authorisation could face consequences including prosecution under national laws such as those covering espionage. The Five Eyes agencies say they have already identified individuals who have carried out such activities, leading to criminal prosecutions, job losses and the revocation of security clearances. MI5 directed those seeking advice to guidance from the National Protective Security Authority, titled Applicant Beware and published in October 2025.