Foreign spies are recruiting Chinese by phone, social media, security ministry warns

Ministry of State Security advises vigilance after citizens duped by agents posing as recruiters, lovers to steal secrets

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The latest warning from China’s security ministry says foreign spies are duping citizens into gathering intelligence by posing as job recruiters. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Published: 3:01pm, 7 Jan 2025Updated: 3:39pm, 7 Jan 2025

Foreign spies are disguising their identities to buy phone numbers and social media accounts in China so they can pose as job recruiters or close friends to gather personal information, the country’s top intelligence agency has warned.

In a post on its social media account on Tuesday, the Ministry of State Security (MSS) cited three cases of Chinese citizens “falling into traps” set by foreign intelligence agencies, and urged the public to “sharpen their eyes” to the schemes, without offering further details.

The ministry said foreign espionage agencies had been buying social messaging accounts and mobile numbers online to circumvent China’s identity registration process, using them for “spy contacts” and to send funds. It warned that anyone who sold numbers or accounts to foreign spies could become “accomplices”, unwittingly endangering national security.

In one case, a person who sold his mobile number online only discovered his number had been used by spies when the ministry informed him he had been placed under investigation.

The MSS warned that foreign intelligence agencies could post part-time jobs online to recruit people to conduct surveillance and searches, and record video in sensitive areas under the pretext of “research”.