A former Russian intelligence trainee has warned that Silicon Valley professionals are increasingly being targeted through sophisticated romance scams designed to extract confidential information.
Aliia Roza, who says she was trained in Moscow to use seduction as a weapon before defecting from Russia, told the New York Post that both Chinese and Russian operatives are exploiting loneliness and emotional vulnerability among tech workers to obtain trade secrets. She described how
They see the target, they need to get information. They need to manipulate the target, emotions, feelings, or whatever they can do, they will do it.
The warning follows a London Times report alleging that Moscow and Beijing are deploying attractive agents to entrap Western engineers and executives.
Roza confirmed that such ‘sexpionage’ campaigns follow a methodical script: operatives engineer repeated, seemingly accidental encounters—“seven times, to be exact”—before establishing contact. Once trust is gained, she said, victims are “love-bombed” with flattering messages and emotionally charged stories to evoke sympathy.
Roza described how agents fake mutual friends or professional ties—a ploy she calls the “milk technique”—to appear credible. Once the bond deepens, targets are manipulated into sharing secrets or access, often under emotional pressure or veiled threats.
She cautioned that overworked, isolated tech professionals are particularly vulnerable. “They may be very smart and geniuses in what they do, but regarding dating relationships … they spend a lot of time in the offices,” she said.
The report highlights the growing problem of post-Cold War espionage across the West.
