Whenever there are people involved, any process can get a little messy or questionable. And the security clearance process is no different. While there are guidelines, like 13 of them, there are also extenuating circumstances and nuances. So, for some, they can either work through their life choices or make adjustments. And then there are times in the interview and application process that seem out of the ordinary, so that’s where it’s helpful to have a forum to ask those questions and get feedback from the community. And when in doubt, check in with a lawyer.
Security Clearance Stories
The ClearanceJobs editorial team recounted a few of stories from the blog from fellow clearance holders or seekers in their quest to get or maintain a clearance. Listen in as we walk through each of these scenarios.
1. The accidental work for a porn company.
Justinxxk shares how he didn’t really know what a former employer did:
Long story short, I was involved with an issue regarding a porn company. I did work for them, but then realized after the fact that the company does porn and I did not want to associate myself with that. All earnings that I got were returned and I have a record of that. Later down the road, I get a message about filing a tax with the IRS. I contacted the guy and originally told me that he will fix it. Then he called the next day and told me he can’t. I have no choice but to pay it. I am a senior study engineering in college. I plan to work at L3 and that would require a security clearance. I am a student at OSU.
Will filing this form to the IRS hurt my chances at obtaining security clearances? I would qualify every other section. I don’t know any people outside the US, I have no criminal record, I don’t drink or smoke weed.
2. The clearance applicant with mysterious large transactions.
Aretz76 explained a confusing predicament:
I have had a secret clearance for the last 4 years. I will be approaching my 5th year now.
I work on a federal contract.
When receiving my secret, I got an interim 2 months after completing my SF86 & my final 6 months after.
Only had one issue on my investigation which was a 16k hospital bill that was later taken care of by insurance.
I applied for a GS job in December, was selected & just did my SF86 for my TS/SCI two weeks ago. Two days ago I received my waiver to start working at the command(is this considered “interim”)? My LT says that in order to get that waiver that means all of my documents and SF86 were “favorable”
Also – whole interview went good!! Had a few things on there we talked about and I genuinely felt good until she started asking questions about things that were ‘found’
She mentioned 3 “large transactions” aprx. 2 months apart back in 2014-2015. WEIRD. I’m gonna be honest; I’m broke lol.
I work a lot and keep my head above water. When I mentioned the only time I have a few thousand come in at a time is during tax time she asked me what I usually get, I told her between 3-6k now that I have a child (which I didn’t have when I got my secret) she told me no they were large transactions. She didn’t and wouldn’t tell me amounts, didn’t even mention the financial institution (I am a member of two small credit unions) I also mentioned I use to have an account with an ex that we would transfer our saved money around when we moved and bought our furniture, and I also mentioned a 6K private loan I took out for school.
Apparently she was wanting big stuff, which never in my life gave I personally dealt or had that much money. ( I also use to work at a bank so I know rules on large transactions and rules for reporting the money )
After we hung up she immediately called back and was like oh could it have been large transactions for a business… my answer ABSOLUTELY NOT. I don’t even own a business 
My question is, after a pretty boring and simple interview(fairly fast) do you think she said that to just see if I would say something I might have “forgotten” I have spoke to many colleagues, one of which says he was asked something similar and it was false too. Everyone has believed it to be a trick question. Is this a thing?
3. That time when the investigator had a mild heart attack.
DC1983 explains a situation with a medical issues and a request to record the interview:
So I am in process for a secret clearance for a dod contractor.
The interviewer contacted me by text message and made himself known and asked about coming to see me and schedule a time at work. This was fine as I have heard other coworkers state they experience the same…
Day of the in person interview the investigator failed to show he about 4 days later via voicemail (missed his call) and text that he had a mild heart attack the day of our scheduled interview… and asked to schedule it 4 days from the day of the message…
This alarmed me due to the fact that if you just had a heart attack I would be focused on my health and not necessarily work…
I agreed if he was up to it… He arrived at my job in a conference room showed his credentials and asked to verify mine… then he told me the interview would be recorded. He never asked if I agreed to being recorded he just started the interview…
He checked out from what I gather as legit I just don’t recall when I had a similar experience gaining high public trust the in person interview being recorded.
Is that legal?
4. The issues with sextortion and filling out the SF-86.
Twiceshy explains a common predicament for clearance holders impacted by sextortion scams:
How does an affected person applying for an initial clearance document the incident properly on the SF-86?
What specific concerns should be mitigated, and how?
Hypothetical example:
Suppose an unmarried, unattached man using a legitimate online dating site (e.g. okaycupid) was contacted by a woman with an apparently legitimate profile, and responded intelligently to conversation prompts (seemingly ruling out the possibility of a bot). The woman then requests the man to talk over Skype, and believing the risk for exposure to be minimal due to reciprocity, the man performs sexual acts (e.g. masturbation) for the woman (who was likewise masturbating).
The woman then demonstrates that some pictures were collected, locates the man’s Facebook profile, and threatens to harass friends with pictures from a fake profile setup in the man’s likeness. The man, being untrained in how to respond in such situations, then pays an initial ransom ask for a few hundred dollars (which he can afford without exposing himself financially) in good faith to a Western Union account in the Philippines, hoping the offending party would relent. The man refuses further ransom attempts, informs the woman he would save all details of recorded contact and payment, and would not hesitate in reporting the activity to the appropriate US authorities if any further contact was made to either the man, or any acquaintance.
Thoughts on case:
The man should formally file the case with the FBI’s IC3 department, report the financial information provided as a “close contact” on the SF86, explain the details of the case, note any similar past incidents (or lack thereof), refer to the submission of the details of the case to the FBI, detail any steps taken to prevent a likelihood of occurrence, and cross-reference the event on the “have you EVER provided financial support to foreign national” question to the extent possible with the information available.
It seems obvious that this is the sort of event that absolution should be mentioned somewhere on the form, and creates some concerns to be mitigated. The hope is that self-reporting an incident which would perhaps not otherwise have been found during the investigation, in concert with the submission of evidence to the FBI, should mitigate the concern to the extent possible by displaying appropriate candor, and an unwillingness to let the information be used for blackmail again the future.
Thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated by any affected parties, I am sure.
5. The one who wanted to host OnlyFans content for suggestive cosplay.
Curiousdirtbike shares:
I am a young, female engineer beginning work at a company that will eventually require me to obtain security clearance within the upcoming year, and have ambitions to aim for a federal job with the NNSA after some years at this company, which would require me to achieve even higher security clearance.
Hobbies outside work include cosplay, and I have considered starting an OnlyFans/Patreon account as some social media followers have asked for a way to support me. My content would not be nude or pornographic, but have considered making suggestive content that does not push these boundaries of mine. Would something like this end up causing security clearance denial down the line? I’d be vigilant about properly paying taxes on this income, and while I do not put my name on this media, it is not for fear of friends/family/neighbors knowing but rather worry of stalking and other horror stories for people in the cosplay/gaming community. I also wonder, as cosplay requires use of masks/wigs/makeup in order to appear as these characters, would that appear as attempting to hide my identity?
Ultimately, I’d like to pursue these options in my free time as I enjoy it, but if it may harm my career I will not as I love this industry and while the extra income would be extremely helpful, it’s not something I completely need. Sorry if this has been asked.
Know Your Resources
Bottom line in the cleared industry is that there are a lot of resources now available to answer all those normal and out of the ordinary questions that you might have. When in doubt, ask a question on the blog, or review the security clearance content here on the news site to get answers to your different situations. There are guidelines and there are rules, and when it comes to your security clearance, the most important thing is the safety of the country. So, if your individual actions could impact the handling of classified information, it will impact your career. The government generally cares less about the specifics of your secret life and more about the fact that you have a secret that someone could use to extort classified information from you.
