Singapore-registered firm used fake employees and recruitment methods mirroring foreign intelligence playbook
The company, called Infoassa, had advertised at least six events at its premises over the last four months. Checks by CNA found that the most recent event on Aug 7 never took place.
Infoassa, a Singapore-registered firm, has been found to have utilized deceptive recruitment tactics and methods reminiscent of foreign intelligence agencies. The company advertised six events at its headquarters in the past four months, yet the most recent event on August 7 did not occur. Maria, a former US government employee, initially believed the remote policy analyst role at Infoassa, a think-tank based in Singapore, would be a perfect fit for her expertise in Indo-Pacific issues.
However, as she progressed through the application process, she grew increasingly suspicious. The representative from Infoassa contacted her using a personal Gmail account, and he proposed a US$500 reward for passing a writing test based on a planned September summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
She couldn't locate any credible information about Infoassa online, aside from its website. This suspicion was further fueled by her friends in think-tank circles, who had never heard of the company. Dr. Bill Hayton, an associate fellow at Chatham House, expressed concerns about Infoassa in an X post on August 4, which coincided with the sudden disappearance of Infoassa's website.
CNA's investigation revealed a series of anomalies surrounding Infoassa, including borrowed event descriptions from other organizations, fabricated employee profiles, and shared website infrastructure with TheTruthInfo, a site seized by US authorities in June. These elements suggest that Infoassa may have been part of a broader pattern of recruitment attempts by foreign intelligence agencies.
Written by urgent.news from CNA - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
