Summary
North Korean state-backed hackers stole more than $400 million in cryptocurrency through a scheme the FBI calls FaceStealer, which targeted more than 900 people in 18 months. They used fake video calls and malware to steal identities, access victims’ accounts and contacts, and record calls for use in further scams.
Key Facts
- The FBI says more than 900 people were targeted by FaceStealer in the last 18 months.
- The scheme stole more than $400 million in cryptocurrency, according to U.S. authorities.
- Hackers targeted people in cryptocurrency and web3, especially those who develop or maintain open-source software.
- They used fake or hijacked social media accounts to invite targets to video calls on imitation versions of Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet.
- During calls, hackers played prerecorded videos of people the target knew and made it seem that the audio was malfunctioning.
- A prompt told targets to click a link to fix the audio; the link downloaded malware that could access contacts and apps.
- Hackers secretly recorded the calls and reused the recordings to deceive more victims.
- U.S. law enforcement agencies attributed a separate $6.3 billion Binance hack to North Korea-linked actors; Pyongyang denied the allegation.
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