An aggressive recruitment operation tied to China is targeting laid-off U.S. government employees using fake companies disguised as think tanks and consulting firms. Intelligence analysts say the campaign poses a serious national security concern and appears to be designed to exploit financial vulnerabilities among former federal workers.

The network includes four sham firms that shared digital fingerprints with a Chinese tech company known as Smiao Intelligence. According to research from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the group used deceptive LinkedIn listings and Craigslist ads to reach former officials with backgrounds in policy, defense and artificial intelligence.

🔔‼️A secret Network of Federal Employees Resists Trump Administration.
"Along side with this, new US intelligence also shows that the Chinese regime is attempting to recruit disgruntled US federal employees".
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Max Lesser, a senior analyst at FDD, said the campaign follows patterns used in previous Chinese intelligence operations. The companies reportedly posted roles at institutions that do not exist, offering what appeared to be legitimate work opportunities for high-level professionals.

One company, RiverMerge Strategies, advertised itself as a geopolitical consulting firm and listed offices in Colorado and Singapore. On closer inspection, its Singapore location led to a hostel and its Colorado address belonged to a business registration service. The company’s U.S. phone number had been disconnected, and the Chinese number listed was tied to Si Xun Software, which has known ties to Chinese military cybersecurity operations.

Another group in the network, Wavemax Innovation, posted ads targeting federal workers recently removed from their posts. One job listing sought specialists in policy, communications and research — all areas that could be exploited for sensitive information.

Attempts by Reuters to contact the companies were unsuccessful. Phone numbers failed, emails bounced back and company websites were eventually taken down. LinkedIn also removed pages related to the fraudulent firms.

The FBI has warned that China frequently uses fake institutions and recruiters to gain access to current and former U.S. officials. One expert told Reuters these efforts are likely to increase given the recent changes in the federal workforce and the Chinese government’s history of targeting Americans with intelligence value.

In 2020, a similar Chinese operation used a fake consulting firm to trick Americans into writing reports for what they thought were private clients, but which were actually Chinese intelligence agencies.