The U.S. government said Thursday that North Korean technology workers posed as Americans and signed remote work contracts with hundreds of U.S. companies as part of a scheme to help fund North Korea’s illegal nuclear weapons and missile programs. It was announced that.
According to the State Department, for three years starting in October 2020, an American named Christina Chapman from Arizona helped three North Korean IT workers use their US national status to obtain “illegal telework employment.” He said he helped the company and made about $6.8 million.
In a separate release, the Justice Department said the effort defrauded more than 300 U.S. companies and announced charges against Chapman and other alleged co-conspirators.
“The charges describe a years-long effort by the North Korean government to penetrate the U.S. job market through fraud in order to increase revenue for the North Korean government and its illegal nuclear program,” the Justice Department said. said.
The Justice Department said Chapman not only helped steal U.S. personal information, but also ran a “laptop farm” by hosting computers issued by U.S. companies on behalf of North Korean workers. He was reportedly operating the computer from his home, just as North Korean workers would do. Based in the US.
She is also suspected of helping launder the proceeds in her own financial accounts by receiving, processing and distributing payroll checks, the department added. As a result, U.S. companies filed false documents with the Department of Homeland Security and filed false reports with the Internal Revenue Service.
The U.S. also accused Oleksandr of Kyiv, Ukraine, of engaging in a years-long effort to create accounts using false identities at U.S.-based freelance IT job search platforms and money services companies, according to the Department of Justice. – Mr. Didenko was indicted. The department said he operated a platform that allowed remote IT employees to “purchase or rent accounts on various platforms using identities other than their own.”
North Korea, which faces numerous U.S. and U.N. sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, relies on cyberattacks and other online crimes as well as sending IT talent overseas to generate government revenue. US and South Korean officials previously told Bloomberg. .
In-demand workers can earn up to US$300,000 a year working overseas, often remotely through freelance platforms, and using fake or stolen identity documents, officials said. said.
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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un leads first ‘nuclear trigger’ simulation training
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un leads first ‘nuclear trigger’ simulation training
The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $5 million for information that could lead to thwarting efforts to fund North Korea’s weapons program.
North Korea is also known to use fake job postings to trick U.S. employees into providing sensitive information.
The development comes after North Korean hackers have been targeting U.S. companies for years, launching ransomware attacks and stealing cryptocurrencies as another way to raise money for their weapons programs. It was conducted. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, suspected North Korean hackers also stole more than $1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies last year.
