Cryptoupdated 25m ago2 min read
FBI Says North Korea-Backed Hackers Stole $400 Million Using Fake Video Calls
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North Korea–backed hackers stole more than $400 million in cryptocurrency via fake video calls. The FBI says over 900 victims were affected in the FaceStealer scheme.
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FaceStealer Disrupted
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said North Korea-backed hackers stole cryptocurrency worth more than $400 million over the past 18 months using a scheme it named "Face Stealer" (Face Thief). The FBI said the hackers lured victims into video chats through fake versions of video conferencing software such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, then used a fake technical error that required clicking a link to fix it and infect the victim’s computer and social media accounts.
The FBI said it seized and confiscated more than 900 video clips captured by victims’ webcams, and the BBC reported the scheme resulted in "more than $400 million" in cryptocurrency over the last 18 months. The Justice Department announced coordinated actions that included seizing cloud infrastructure behind FaceStealer and obtaining court-authorized seizure of more than $1.2 billion stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
How the Scam Worked
The FBI said FaceStealer used secretly photographed images of people to target their acquaintances, with victims receiving invitations from real contacts they had previously interacted with. The FBI said the hackers began using artificial intelligence to create fake video clips via deepfake technology of well-known and influential figures in the crypto and blockchain industries.
Patrick Grandy, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said, "If you can't imagine a scenario where you might fall prey to it, you are not thinking creatively enough." The Justice Department said hackers used imposter versions of Zoom and Microsoft Teams that were designed to be indistinguishable from the genuine interfaces, and it said the infrastructure seized by the FBI contained a library of more than 900 secretly recorded webcam videos.
Binance Loot and Next Steps
The Justice Department said investigators froze more than $2.7 billion of stolen Binance funds and that courts authorized the seizure of more than $1.2 billion of that amount.
A. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, said the computer crime section and partners froze the stolen Binance assets "before they got beyond law enforcement reach," halting "about half of this historic breach."
The FBI attributed the Binance theft to North Korean military hackers it calls TraderTraitor, and the BBC said Pyongyang denied the claim.
The Hill reported that North Korea denied any involvement in the Binance hack after the FBI attributed the cyberattack to the country, and it said the hack prompted the company to suspend all deposits and withdrawals and led other cryptocurrency firms to freeze around $3 billion in assets.