Earlier this week, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) issued a dark warning to airmen and former service members. The office cautioned against “foreign intelligence entities” using a phony recruitment scheme to trick unsuspecting veterans and current service members. Special Agent Lee Russ, executive director of AFOSI Office of Special Projects, said, “These aren’t just job offers, they’re intelligence operations in disguise. Our adversaries are targeting the very people who’ve kept this nation secure.”
While not a new tactic, recent efforts have become more aggressive and refined, according to AFOSI. It characterized the initiative as coming in the form of social media messages offering high-paying “consulting jobs.” One site mentioned in news reports, including one by CBS, is Chinese-owned WeChat.
In an intelligence report described in an article by breakingdefense.com, AFOSI wrote: “Foreign actors reach out to service members privately, which means there’s no institutional oversight. What someone does on their personal account doesn’t necessarily have the same safeguards as an official one, and adversaries are taking advantage of that.” There has been recent suspicion that foreign intelligence operatives, including those from China, are posing as consulting firms, corporate headhunters, think tanks “and other entities on social and professional networking sites.”
