China targeting U.S. service members on social media in “virtual espionage” spy efforts [Video]

The Chinese intelligence officer who convinced Thomas Zhao to hand over sensitive information about the U.S. military seemed to know the 24-year-old U.S. Navy petty officer had a passion for the stock market. 

The agent approached Zhao in a stock trading chat group on the Chinese-owned social media network WeChat, CBS News learned in interviews with people involved in the case. But chats about investment strategies soon veered into sensitive areas, including questions about Naval exercises in the Pacific and designs for radar installations. 

The Zhao case represents a new dimension to Chinese covert activities that counterintelligence officials are calling “virtual espionage.” The practice, in which Chinese intelligence officers target members of the military and others of high interest on social media, draw them into correspondence, and extract sensitive information from them, is a rising threat, officials told CBS News.

“They will turn over every stone to try and collect …