China, European Union, France Unravelling Guoanbu’s ‘LinkedIn’ scheme to steal strategic European secrets

China used fake LinkedIn profiles in an attempt to harvest sensitive data from NATO and European Union institutions by soliciting information from staff, a European security source said Friday.

The operation, allegedly orchestrated by Beijing’s state security ministry, targeted dozens of employees at the military alliance or EU organisations through fictitious accounts, the source said, confirming reports in French and Belgian media.

Posing as recruiters on the online professional networking platform, Chinese spies would initially request paid reports before later soliciting non-public or even classified information.

One particularly active fake profile used the name “Kevin Zhang”, claiming to be the head of a fictitious Hong Kong-based firm called “Oriental Consulting”, the security source told AFP.

In return, recruits from countries including France, Belgium and the United Kingdom were paid several hundred — and in some cases several thousand — dollars, the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.