The FBI Counterintelligence Unit has made a movie to educate US students studying abroad about how they may be recruited by foreign governments to become spies, particularly in China.
The movie focuses on the true story of Glenn Duffie Shriver, who heads to Shanghai to study for a year and responds to an ad to write essays for the Chinese government in exchange for cash.
Shriver meets his handler, 'Amanda' and she, along with a man, 'Mr Tang', groom Shriver to take the US State Department exams twice (he failed both times), and then suggest he applies to join the CIA. They tell him they are simply interested in improving relations with the US.
Shriver returns to the US to take a lie-detector test at CIA HQ on the day of his interview, and is later apprehended on a plane, arrested, and sent to prison for four years for conspiring to provide national defence information to a foreign government.
It’s a very ‘made for education’ video, but the story is interesting, especially since it’s true.
Watch the video here:
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.