{"id":3610,"date":"2026-06-11T08:34:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2026-06-11T08:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:34:25","slug":"fbi-seizes-13-websites-that-officials-say-were-used-by-china-to-target-and-recruit-us-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3610","title":{"rendered":"FBI seizes 13 websites that officials say were used by China to target and recruit US workers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By ERIC TUCKER<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The FBI has seized more than a dozen websites that officials say were part of a Chinese effort to target American workers who have access to classified or sensitive government information, the Justice Department said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Read more Today in History: June 11, Margaret Thatcher wins third term as British prime minister<\/a><\/p>\n

The 13 websites purported to be affiliated with consulting companies that advertised job openings for current and former holders of security clearances. But the companies were all fakes and the job postings were a sham, officials said.<\/p>\n

The internet domain seizure is part of a broader effort by Western law enforcement and intelligence agencies to sound the alarm about alleged Chinese government plots to recruit workers who can be duped into disclosing sensitive information.<\/p>\n

Last week, for instance, the English-speaking Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance \u2014 Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. \u2014 issued a bulletin warning that China is targeting personnel from those countries on job websites to get access to classified or sensitive information.<\/p>\n

The bulletin said spies for Chinese military intelligence have been posing as workers acting on behalf of private businesses or think tanks, advertising for bogus jobs such as foreign policy or defense analysts and pressuring candidates to provide \u201cnon-public\u201d information.<\/p>\n

According to an FBI affidavit filed in connection with the website seizure, the fake websites relied on fraudulent or stolen identities and AI-generated photographs to give them the appearance of legitimacy, and advertised generic \u201cconsulting\u201d jobs geared toward current or former U.S. government employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese websites are often linked or referenced within the entities\u2019 job postings on LinkedIn and other hiring platforms,\u201d the affidavit said.<\/p>\n

Read more Feds won\u2019t seek death penalty in plea deal with man accused of killing top Minnesota Democrat<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Applicants and recruits were offered money for reports related to their work and for sensitive information, the Justice Department said. The operators of the plot, who officials allege to be tied to Chinese intelligence services, used cryptocurrency and online payment systems to hide their real identities, officials said.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement officials identified the website through information from targets who came forward to report what they believed to be suspicious interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of this information came from doing interviews, interviews with people who came forward that something didn\u2019t seem right,\u201d Dan Wierzbicki, the special agent in charge of the counterintelligence and cyber division of the FBI\u2019s Washington field office, said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey provided information and said, \u2018Hey, this is kind of weird, we\u2019re kind of getting paid by a cryptocurrency or an online payment system that\u2019s not typical,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

He said the FBI believes there are other websites serving a similar purpose and is seeking the public\u2019s help in identifying them.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington called allegations of Chinese espionage \u201centirely fabricated\u201d and \u201cmalicious slander.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Socialite Rebecca Grossman and ex-Dodger should pay nearly $200 million in brothers\u2019 deaths, jury finds<\/a><\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The companies were all fakes and the job postings were a sham, officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFBI seizes 13 websites that officials say were used by China to target and recruit US workers - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3610\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FBI seizes 13 websites that officials say were used by China to target and recruit US workers - 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