Justice Dept. makes arrests in North Korean identity theft scheme involving thousands of IT workers
Source: AP
Updated 7:26 PM EDT, May 16, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) The Justice Department announced Thursday multiple arrests in a series of complex stolen identity theft cases that officials say are part of a wide-ranging scheme that generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program.
The conspiracy involves thousands of North Korean information technology workers who prosecutors say are dispatched by the government to live abroad and who rely on the stolen identities of Americas to obtain remote employment at U.S.-based Fortune 500 companies, jobs that give them access to sensitive corporate data and lucrative paychecks. The companies did not realize the workers were overseas.
The fraud scheme is a way for heavily sanctioned North Korea, which is cut off from the U.S. financial system, to take advantage of a toxic brew of converging factors, including a high-tech labor shortage in the U.S. and the proliferation of remote telework, Marshall Miller, the Justice Departments principal associate deputy attorney general, said in an interview.
The Justice Department says the cases are part of a broader strategy to not only prosecute individuals who enable the fraud but also to build partnerships with other countries and to warn private-sector companies of the need to be vigilant and not duped about the actual identities of the people theyre hiring.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-it-stolen-identity-0fb3e47dcc9a6f671b1fb7c0a722b1a8
Link to DOJ
PRESS RELEASE -
Justice Department Announces Arrest, Premises Search, and Seizures of Multiple Website Domains to Disrupt Illicit Revenue Generation Efforts of Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea