Washington, June 11 (IANS) The US Justice Department and the FBI have seized 13 websites allegedly used by operatives linked to China to recruit current and former US government employees and obtain sensitive information from people with security clearances.
Following the operation on Wednesday (local time), officials said the websites posed as consulting firms and advertised jobs such as “Senior Analyst” and “International Affairs Consultant” while seeking access to individuals with government, military and national security experience.
According to court documents, the operation began in November 2023 when conspirators created at least 13 fake consulting company websites and related job postings aimed at recruiting current and former US government and military personnel.
The Justice Department said the websites were part of a broader scheme that used fraudulent job offers, fictitious identities and overseas payments to obtain sensitive information.
“These domain seizures offer a glimpse at how foreign actors can use promises of easy money to lure Americans into revealing sensitive or classified information that they are duty-bound to protect,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said.
“Anyone approached online with offers of easy income for vague ‘consulting’ work should treat those overtures with extreme caution and remain vigilant for warning signs of malicious targeting,” he said.
Federal investigators said the operators used aliases, stolen identities and AI-generated photographs to create the appearance of legitimate consulting businesses. They allegedly offered substantial payments for research reports and communicated through Telegram and other encrypted applications.
The recruiters pressured applicants to provide “exclusive” or “insider” information and used contracts and confidentiality agreements to lend credibility to the fake firms, according to the affidavit.
US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said the operation sought to exploit Americans entrusted with sensitive government information.
“Today’s seizures send a clear message that any attempts to exploit Americans trusted with access to our nation’s most sensitive information will be exposed and dismantled,” Pirro said.
“These sham consulting sites were crafted to deceive, but thanks to the persistent work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, this scheme, like so many others, has been stopped in its tracks,” she added.
The FBI directly linked the activity to Chinese intelligence efforts.
“The fake consulting company domains seized by the FBI illustrate the lengths the Chinese government’s intelligence services will go to as they try to use AI-generated content to trick, recruit, or coerce current and former US security clearance holders into sharing sensitive information,” said Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.
Investigators said job advertisements were placed on social media and employment platforms, including Upwork, Expertia AI, Hubstaff Talent, Wellfound and Post Job Free. The postings focused on topics of interest to the government of the People’s Republic of China.
The conspirators paid recruits through accounts linked to fictitious individuals and used cryptocurrency to conceal their identities and the source of funds, federal prosecutors alleged.
Authorities allege the payments helped move money from outside the United States into the country in furtherance of the scheme.
“For too long, the Chinese government has tried to exploit US government employees behind the cover of fake companies and phoney job postings,” said Daniel Wierzbicki, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Counterintelligence and Cyber Division. “Today, we shut them down.”
The Justice Department said the suspects have denied involvement by any foreign government. Following the seizures, the FBI replaced the websites with warning notices stating that the domains had been disabled as part of a law enforcement operation.
--IANS
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