I was going to post this question on Reddit to get more replies in maybe the /r/securityclearance subreddit, but that site is heavily censored and people are quick to insult anyone and everyone.  My Reddit accounts always get banned on when I create them with TOR and throwaway emails. So I will just post here and hope for the best.

I was fired from a defense contractor after getting a couple DUIs and they yanked my clearance.  I went to Hong Kong for vacation and some Chinese people reached out to me on social media.  I will note that I am very active on social media and have my full resume, travel photos and videos, and even livestream for followers.  I ended up meeting with some of my Chinese followers while there and they treated me to lunch and tea and wanted to talk about my previous work.  I only told them unclassified stuff of course.  When it was time to return to the states, they said to keep in touch and gave me some cash as a friendly gift.  Now these same people are asking about my career plans and if I plan to reenter the world of defense.

I'm in the U.S. now so I assume I could just block and ignore these people for good.  But then I wonder what if they have a recording of our unclassified tea-talks and them giving me money and will show this video to the feds if I ignore them?!  Is this spy recruitment, or am I just being paranoid and should forget about this and move on with my life?

Thanks for your reply.  I never said that I had "little prospect" of holding a security clearance again.  In fact, I may be going back into that field soon.  A couple DUI's don't ban you for life, it just suspends you for a period of time until you can mitigate the issue, which I think I did with treatment programs.

I guess I was being too paranoid.  This spy stuff never happens to me or anyone I know in real life.  I will likely rejoin the defense world soon but keep in touch with my friends from China who have lots of technical knowledge and can maybe even help me in my career.  You are right, there is no need to block them.  They can help me in my career.

I also found out that once I get my low-level Secret clearance, I may be upgraded to a Top Secret with polygraph later for more work . . . as long as I don't get any more DUIs.   I'm not sure how I should respond to the "foreign contacts" polygraph questions which may DQ me if I mention my paranoia about spies.  Maybe it is best that I deal with that later when the time comes.

At this point, I think it would be in your best interest to quietly scale down and end your communications with these friends. And certainly to not communicate with them about your work.

not a dummy,

Section 19 (Foreign Contacts) of Standard Form 86 asks:

Quote:


Based on your description and a plain English reading of SF-86, you can truthfully omit the Chinese contacts you mentioned.

However, counterintelligence officials would certainly be interested in what you posted here. Should you mention this incident, you can expect to be questioned at length about these individuals and your interactions with them. The fact that you accepted money from them will further raise eyebrows.

not a dummy,

Your posts have me wondering whether you're not a troll attempting to send U.S. counterintelligence officials on a wild goose chase.