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Foreign Adversaries Lure Former U.S. Officials with Fake Jobs and Consulting Gigs
**The world of espionage has taken a new turn, with foreign adversaries employing subtle tactics to extract sensitive information from former U.S. officials. These operations have seen success in recent years, as evidenced by federal indictments and warnings from top officials.
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The Wave of Federal Layoffs Creates Opportunities for Foreign Intelligence Services
**The past year has seen a wave of federal layoffs, leaving thousands of government employees and contractor clients without work. For foreign intelligence services, this disruption has opened new opportunities to target former U.S. officials seeking employment or freelance work in specialized national security fields.
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Human Contact: The New Frontier in Espionage
**The efforts by foreign adversaries are not tied to traditional signals intelligence or hacking. Instead, they rely on human contact – conversations that begin over email or job platforms and evolve into targeted efforts to extract sensitive information. This is a classic form of human intelligence (HUMINT) adapted to the everyday churn of online job hunting.
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Subtle Tradecraft: Fake Websites, Staged Interviews, and Plausible Payment Offers
**The tradecraft used by foreign adversaries is subtle but effective. Fake websites are created, staged interviews are conducted, and plausible payment offers are made. The goal remains the same as any other in spycraft – to extract sensitive information.
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Cases of Espionage: A Growing Concern
**Recent federal indictments show that this model has worked. Former military analysts, civilian employees, and even active-duty personnel have been caught passing information to contacts they believed were legitimate employers or clients. In 2025, the Justice Department announced charges or indictments in at least five separate cases involving current or former U.S. government personnel accused of transmitting classified or sensitive information to foreign intelligence services.
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The Network: A Web of Fake Firms and Recruitment Schemes
**Analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies have uncovered a network of fake firms that has sought out former federal employees. The research, which assessed the network was likely tied to China, revealed over 100 websites using similar tactics. One website, Davis Ryan Consulting, posted a job opening seeking a government and public services business analyst with the "ability to obtain a U.S. security clearance."
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The Warning Signs: A Growing Threat
**The U.S. government has sought to further publicize the targeting efforts. In November, Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Hale issued a memo warning that foreign adversaries are targeting soldiers, civilians, and their families through fake companies and phony recruiters.
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The Scope: A Threat That Spans Social Media Platforms
**The espionage efforts do not target only classified information and aim to access various forms of sensitive data like battle plans, contracts, and research. Adversaries use less traditional social messaging platforms like Reddit and Discord to pose seemingly innocuous questions that can increase in sensitivity over time.
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The Numbers: A Growing Concern
**The National Counterintelligence and Security Center put out a notice in April of last year warning that China and other groups are "targeting current and former U.S. government (USG) employees for recruitment by posing as consulting firms, corporate headhunters, think tanks and other entities on social and professional networking sites." The Partnership for Public Service reported that over 212,000 federal workers have left their jobs as of late January.
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The Conclusion: A Growing Threat That Demands Attention
**Analysts warn that these tactics are getting through to people, with unclear indications of how effective this network has been in actually coaxing U.S. personnel to share sensitive material. The threat is real, and it demands attention from both the government and the public.
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NEXT STORY: Social Security Directs Employees to Answer Phones Instead
**The ongoing saga of federal layoffs and espionage efforts continues to unfold, with new developments emerging daily. Stay tuned for further updates on this story as it unfolds.