Former CIA Chief of Disguise reveals surprising amount spies get paid

Do spies get paid good money?

After all, they put their own lives in danger dealing to gather intel.

The thing about spies is you never know who is one so you can never ask these questions. It could be your neighbour, family member or a close friend.

Luckily YouTube has all the intel we need to get our answers.

In a WIRED interview, a former CIA Chief of Disguise answered people's questions about espionage.

Jonna Mendez answered everything from the recruitment process of spies to current events like how many CIA people are in Ukraine right now.

An interesting question that arose from viewers was how much spies get paid.

One user asked: 'Do spies get paid a lot of money like ppl who spy on other countries'.

Her flatline response was no.

'They don't pay us enough,' Mendez explained. 'They pay us flat government salaries just like anybody else.'

Now, she didn't specify a salary, but she went on to say that there's no difference in spy salaries than those who work at other federal agencies like GSA or IRS.

'Wherever you work in the government, we're on the same pay scale as them,' Mendez added.

But there's a twist.

The 'assets' who provide valuable intelligence for the spies can make 'big amounts of money.'

However, it depends on the 'value of the intelligence,' Mendez mentioned.

She referenced Adolf Tolkachev who was nicknamed the 'billion dollar spy' because of the value of information he supplied to the Pentagon.

WIRED/ YouTube

While he wasn’t paid a billion dollars for his efforts, his information was worth that much.

However, Tolkachev did earn a decent amount of dough during his time as a spy before being caught and executed.

Also in the interview, Mendez described how the CIA go about recruiting spies.

If the modest pay doesn’t deter you, you can find vacancies for spies through media ads or the official CIA website, according to Mendez.

So, you don't have to be part of a secret society to join.

The former CIA member also touched on what makes a good spy.

They look for a 'charismatic, intelligent, well-educated, well-travelled guy,' with 'more and more women joining the ranks.'

They're 'someone you'd meet and instantly want to be their friend.'

She continued: 'There are people like this around the world. Our job is to find them.'