Foreign spies are targeting Army soldiers, civilians and families, official warns

A top military intelligence official issued a memo this month warning Army servicemembers of foreign adversaries’ continued attempts to gather intelligence by targeting personnel, including civilians and their families, via fake companies and recruiters.

The Nov. 13 message authored by Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Hale was sent to over a million soldiers and civilians in the Army apparatus and noted the threat of foreign intelligence entities trying to gather information remains persistent, the Army said in a Monday statement.

The information, which was voluntarily publicized, underscores that foreign rivals are continuing covert online efforts to access national intelligence and defense information from people connected to the U.S. government, including military members. It also comes as the Trump administration has worked to severely shrink the government through layoffs and paid offers for employees to leave federal service early.

Foreign spy groups are posing online as consulting firms, corporate recruiters, think tanks and other seemingly legitimate companies, Hale’s message said. It does not name specific nations involved.

“Especially in the context of the recent lapse in appropriations and government shutdown, our adversaries are looking online to identify individuals seeking new employment opportunities, expressing dissatisfaction or describing financial insecurity,” he wrote. The government reopened on Nov. 12, just before the memo was issued.

Current and former federal workers, especially those with security clearances, should be aware of these attempts, the memo said, adding that “if the offer seems flattering, urgent, exclusive or too good to be true, it probably is.”

A separate unclassified June 2024 transmission provided by the Army indicates the foreign intelligence activity has been observed for some time. It said adversaries use less traditional social messaging platforms like Reddit and Discord to pose seemingly innocuous questions to servicemembers that increase in sensitivity over time. 

Requesters “may rely on opinion-based questions such as asking [Department of the Army] personnel for their opinion on topics such as Taiwan, Ukraine or Israel to gather information,” it said. The espionage efforts do not target only classified information and aim to access various forms of sensitive data like battle plans, contracts and research.

Army members and their families may also be extended “disproportionate payment” offers, such as $1,000 for a two-page whitepaper or an all-expense paid trip to destinations like China, Hong Kong or Macao, the 2024 message said.

A suspected Chinese intelligence operation has tried to recruit former U.S. federal employees and public policy experts through fake websites and job postings, Nextgov/FCW first reported in September. 

Those recruitment efforts — which involved low-quality websites representing non-existent companies — appear to have picked up steam amid Department of Government Efficiency-fueled employee departures and terminations over the last several months.

The FBI previously told Nextgov/FCW that it’s aware of foreign adversaries using employment sites and social media platforms to identify knowledgeable individuals to target for recruitment.

“Often those targeted have security clearances and access to classified information. But our adversaries also are looking for experts in business and academia with technical expertise,” the bureau said.

Chinese intelligence entities have deployed online efforts to recruit unwitting current and former federal employees, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said in April. In March, CNN reported that foreign adversaries, including China and Russia, accelerated efforts to recruit disgruntled federal workers in national security roles.