Thousands of information technology (IT) workers contracted by U.S. companies are secretly sending millions of dollars in wages to North Korea for use in North Korea’s ballistic missile program, the FBI and Justice Department say. Officials revealed.
Officials announced Wednesday at a news conference in St. Louis that the North Koreans were sent to work remotely for U.S. companies to obtain jobs using false identities. Officials said the funds paid to them were funneled into North Korea’s weapons program.
The FBI said the workers, primarily located in China and Russia, tricked companies into hiring them as freelance remote employees. They found various ways to make it seem like they were working in the United States, including paying Americans to use their home Wi-Fi connections, said Jay Greenberg, a special agent in charge of the St. Louis FBI office.
South Korea investigates Kim Jong Un’s lifestyle and spending habits
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (AP Photo/File)
“I can tell you that thousands of North Korean IT workers are participating in this,” spokeswoman Rebecca Wu said.
Authorities say the IT workers made millions of dollars, in some cases breaking into computer networks and stealing information from the companies that employed them. Officials did not name the companies that employed the workers or say how federal authorities were made aware of the scheme.
North Korea has used a variety of criminal schemes to fund its regime.
In 2016, four Chinese nationals and a trading company were indicted in the United States for using front companies to evade sanctions targeting North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic programs.
Click to get the FOX News app
In February, United Nations experts announced that North Korean hackers working for the government stole a record amount of virtual assets last year, estimated to be worth between $630 million and more than $1 billion. .
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
