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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Germany says China using LinkedIn to recruit informants [euobserver.com]

The German domestic intelligence agency (BfV) says China is using fake profiles on social media to target German officials and politicians. "This is a broad-based attempt to infiltrate, in particular, parliaments, ministries and government agencies," said BfV head Hans-Georg Maassen on Sunday (10 December).

Maassen said more than 10,000 Germans have been approached by the alleged ruse from Chinese profiles posing as reputable professionals on social networking site LinkedIn.

The BfV released around half dozen fake LinkedIn profiles of young attractive Chinese professionals. Among them is Laeticia Chen who supposedly works at the China Center for International Politics and Economy. Another, Eva Han, is from the China University of Political Science and Law.

The people behind the suspected profiles attempt to link to others, asking them to contact them. The BfV says the moves are designed to possibly recruit high-ranking officials to become Chinese informants.

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