North Korean IT workers stole $915K in crypto posing as US and Serbian remote workers
From Cointelegraph
July 1, 2025 3:00 am:
Four North Korean nationals were charged in Georgia for wire fraud and money laundering, stealing nearly $1 million in crypto by posing as remote IT workers at US and Serbian blockchain companies. They used fake and stolen identities to conceal their North Korean citizenship, working at a blockchain startup and virtual token company.
The defendants stole $915,000 in crypto by exploiting their privileged access. One defendant siphoned $175,000 in February 2022, while another stole $740,000 using smart contract source code in March. The stolen funds were laundered through mixers and sent to exchange accounts controlled by other defendants using fraudulent Malaysian IDs.
The DOJ’s DPRK RevGen program cracked down on North Korean illicit revenue streams and US-based enablers involved in the crypto fraud scheme. Federal agents conducted coordinated raids across 16 states, seizing financial accounts, fraudulent websites, and computers from “laptop farms” used by North Korean operatives to appear as US workers.
The DOJ announced that North Korean IT workers posed as US citizens, using stolen identities to gain jobs at over 100 American companies, funneling millions to Pyongyang and accessing sensitive military data. Last month, a civil forfeiture complaint was filed to seize $7.74 million in crypto allegedly earned by North Korean IT workers posing as remote blockchain contractors.
Read more at Cointelegraph: North Korean IT Workers Charged in $915K Crypto Theft, DOJ Says