A Chinese spy is trying to con state secrets out of top Government officials using fake LinkedIn profiles.
Western security services say the bloke, whose main alias is Robin Zhang, is the most prolific secret agent to target the nation for a generation.
The spy, who created fake companies to make him look credible, has been offering cash to British and Western security officials, civil servants, scientists and academics in exchange for classified information and commercially sensitive tech.
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Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said Chinese intelligence is also using LinkedIn to target everyday Brits. He warned: “It’s not just government employees who need to exercise caution – it’s businesses with commercially sensitive information, as well as researchers and academics.”
Sources reckon Zhang has been working for five years at the Ministry of State Security – China’s main spy agency.
The man, who claimed to have been educated at a London university, even promised to pay one recruitment consultant an £8,000 fee every time they handed over info about a candidate from the intelligence services.
The revelations come amid repeated warnings by intelligence bosses that China is targeting UK technology and research sectors and stealing commercial secrets.
Meanwhile, the Daily Star reported Brit spies are being filmed by Chinese surveillance cameras in front of MI6 HQ.
Cameras made by Hikvision – banned in US federal buildings on national security grounds – have been installed on a lamp post across the road from the security service’s front gates in London.
Experts say the cameras, which rotate 360 degrees and can zoom in from 165ft away, could be used by Beijing spooks to monitor comings and going of Britain’s real life James Bonds.
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Security experts called on the council to remove them.
Former Army intelligence officer Philip Ingram said: “The cameras pose a very serious security risk.
“The data that has been collected by Lambeth Council could be intercepted by the Chinese MSS.
“Cameras outside any intelligence service building in the UK would be high priority for them."
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