If you’re a celebrity this would probably be awesome news, as a new report claims that Chinese hackers can be paid to delete news stories that you may not have enjoyed. However, it looks like some of those hackers are already being caught dead in their tracks.

“Clients—government officials, business executives, celebrities, anyone looking to rid themselves of unwanted publicity—would use middlemen to hire computer hackers to penetrate the network of a news website or popular Internet forum, and delete posts or news articles upon request,” according to The Epoch Times.

“A 6-month campaign run by the Chinese regime’s cyberspace authorities to root out the business has successfully concluded, the state-run Xinhua reported on Sept. 7.” 

Middlemen have a ton of control over the situation including how much money it takes for certain officials to get their names out of the press. It’s very shady dealings and a practice that would likely have many news outlets shaking their heads as to where their post went. Of course, news companies can simply repost the article granted there is a backup copy saved.

“The middlemen themselves are college students, professors, doctors, website editors, government officials and even police officers. The suspects revealed that they earned tens of millions of yuan every year, and that tens of thousands were active in this field,” according to the report.

“A report in Party mouthpiece People’s Daily said that over 50 million yuan (about $8 million) had changed hands over the years, involving 2,000 people in 22 provinces. One suspect is a 26-year-old surnamed Yu who had only a high school diploma yet drove a Mercedes and lived in a mansion before authorities arrested him in May.”

It’s a news companies worst nightmare but the Chinese government is starting to crack down on these phantom news deleting operations so that freedom of the press can reign supreme.

Read the full story.