‘Sex spies’ from China, Russia hit US to seduce and steal secrets with honeypot tactics, fmr operative warns

A former CIA operative says that China and Russia are sending "sex spies" to the United States with goals of stealing the country's technology and state secrets as they engage in psychological warfare.

J. Michael Waller told Fox News Digital he has seen firsthand how America's biggest adversaries, like China and Russia, are using honeypot tactics to steal secrets or compromise politicians as a dirty way to stay ahead of the U.S. While Waller was doing work for the CIA in Poland, he said that a Chinese woman around 25 years old approached him and seemed interested in the work he was doing.

After talking with her more, Waller realized she was a spy and reported the woman to Polish authorities, as she was a government employee at the time. Waller said the Polish government "threw her out of the country within days."

In his personal experience, Waller said the Chinese spy "knew about my background already and even stuff that wasn't in my official bio for the event."

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The national flags of the United States and China flutter at the Fairmont Peace Hotel on April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (Wang Gang/VCG via Getty Images)

"They take advantage of the fact that people are lonely or just want to have a good time or, you know, need company or whatever else," Waller said. "They do what's been done since biblical times. They use sex as a weapon."

Earlier this year, the U.S. government banned employees and personnel working in China from having romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens. The policy was implemented by former U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who put the policy into place before leaving his post when President Donald Trump took office in January.

U.S. government personnel who violate the policy will be forced to leave China.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during his joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks at the PM's office, the former Carmelite Monastery, in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP)

Waller said the practice is a form of psychological warfare because "you're messing with people's heads," adding China will target professionals such as engineers, programmers, local officials, mayors or other politicians.

"They'll go for a very long term with these sexual recruitments and develop long-term emotional relations, at least get the other side, get the target emotionally attached, to the point of even marrying them and having families with them," he said. "That's what they're schooled to do."

Aliia Roza, a former Russian "sex spy," recently told the New York Post that foreign agents are targeting Silicon Valley in order to gain access to emerging technology and trade secrets.

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Aliia Roza said she worked as a Russian "sex spy." (Courtesy of Aliia Roza)

"It starts with love bombing — messages full of compliments, selfies, bikini photos," Roza said. "They pretend to be weak or alone: ‘My parents were killed, I’m a student, I’m broke.’ It triggers the hero instinct. Every man wants to feel like the rescuer."

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Russian flag flies over the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

The former CIA operative gave one piece of advice for Americans:

"If someone from China who’s super, super hot is really interested in you and you’re nowhere near in that league — she’s a spy," Waller said.