A former Russian “sexpionage” trainee is sounding the alarm in Silicon Valley, warning that foreign operatives are using romance scams and fabricated intimacy to extract trade secrets from unsuspecting tech workers.
Aliia Roza, who says she was trained by Russian authorities to seduce and manipulate intelligence targets, began studying such tactics as a teenager, reported New York Post.
After defecting from Russia, she now claims her mission is to expose the psychological playbook she once mastered.
“They see the target, they need to get information,” Roza explained to New York Post. “They need to manipulate the target, emotions, feelings, or whatever they can do, they will do it.”
Russia and Chinese spies attract techies
Her warning follows a Times of London report describing how Russia and China are allegedly deploying attractive operatives to ensnare Western tech executives. According to the report, those countries hold an “asymmetric advantage,” as the United States does not engage in similar tactics.
Roza further stated that while the US “strives to protect human rights,” Russia and China “manipulate their targets in a really bad way” and view their own agents as disposable.
Roza described a methodical process that begins long before any direct contact is made.
“You first appear in their life seven times, to be exact, before making contact,” she said to New York Post. “You might show up at their coffee shop, their gym, or just keep liking their posts. When you finally meet, their brain already trusts you.”
Once familiarity is established, the manipulation deepens. “It starts with love bombing, messages full of compliments, selfies, bikini photos,” she explained to New York Post. “They pretend to be weak or alone: ‘My parents were killed, I’m a student, I’m broke.’ It triggers the hero instinct. Every man wants to feel like the rescuer.”
The operation then escalates through what Roza calls the “milk technique”, where agents fabricate social connections to appear legitimate. “The fake account follows your friends or says, ‘Bill is my brother’s friend,’ so you think, ‘OK, I can trust her.’ But it’s all fabricated,” she told New York Post.
Once trust is built, emotional manipulation intensifies. “The agent makes you doubt yourself,” Roza said. “‘She’ll say, ‘Your boss doesn’t appreciate you; your colleagues use you.’ It creates a bond where you feel you understand each other and the rest of the world is bad,” she explained to New York Post.
Eventually, pressure tactics emerge. “They’ll create stress and fear of losing the relationship,” Roza stated to New York Post. “If you don’t send this information right now, I’ll disappear forever. Under that emotional rush, people give up things they never would otherwise.”
Chasing the ‘weak targets’
Roza believed tech workers are particularly vulnerable because of their isolation and workload. “They would target someone who is single … they don’t have this relationship, so of course, they become, like, very weak targets,” she said to New York Post.
Her advice to Silicon Valley professionals is to remain cautious of sudden romantic attention, particularly when it involves probing questions, name-dropping, or alcohol.
Roza moved to the United States in 2020 and has since obtained her green card. On her lawyer’s advice, she decided to be open about her past as a Russian intelligence agent to strengthen her case for legal residency.
‘I am on a mission to educate people’
According to Roza, her intelligence missions were primarily conducted in Europe and the United Kingdom, targeting human traffickers, drug dealers, and oligarchs who had fallen out of favour with the Russian government. She said she took part in fewer than ten operations.
“I would get into serious relationships with my targets, which at that time were, like, criminals,” she recalled. Those relationships sometimes meant “living together 24-7” and even marriage. “And then [I would] just report [them] to my commanders and bring [them], eventually, to justice,” she told New York Post. Roza also added that she never participated in espionage against Americans or on US soil.
Since leaving intelligence work, Roza has dedicated herself to public education on manipulation tactics across dating, workplaces, and social media. “I’m on a mission to educate people how to prevent manipulation,” she explained to New York Post.
She is currently writing a book and recently signed a deal for a documentary based on her experiences. Alongside her media projects, she works as a public speaker and self-improvement coach, teaching people to use psychological awareness for confidence and resilience.
“Education is prevention of the problem,” she stated to New York Post. Her advice for those in Silicon Valley is simple but firm: slow down interactions, verify identities offline, and never comply with requests shrouded in secrecy or urgency.