The notorious North Korean hacking group, Lazarus, transferred stolen assets to a Cambodian financial company, Huione Pay, reported Reuters on 15 July 2024. The Phnom Penh-based firm has now been implicated in receiving over $150,000 in stolen cryptocurrency from a digital wallet linked to North Korean hackers.
Furthermore, to steal confidential information and breach systems, North Korean hackers are entering cryptocurrency employment forums under false pretenses. The fake hiring scheme alone earns North Korea up to $600 million annually, the UN said.
In fact, the UN Security Council found that over the past seven years, North Korean Hackers have taken $3 billion worth of crypto assets in 58 suspected cyber heists.
Read more: 5 Ways to Sell Bitcoin Instantly and Securely (2024 Updated)
Lazarus Hackers’ High Profile Crypto Scams
The Lazarus Group Exposed!
North Korea’s alleged hacking group, the Lazarus Group, casts a long shadow over the crypto world. Infamous for high-profile cyberattacks and illicit activities, they operate with a shroud of secrecy.
Read more about https://t.co/iaKPexPS7U team’s… pic.twitter.com/u9wRwJG0b0
— Breadcrumbs.app (@AppBreadcrumbs) July 10, 2024
The Lazarus Group, identified by the US as supporting North Korea’s weapons programs, has been involved in a series of high-profile cyber thefts.
The FBI reported that Lazarus looted $160 million from various cryptocurrency firms, including Estonia-based Atomic Wallet, CoinsPaid, and Alphapo. These thefts were executed through sophisticated phishing attacks, allowing the hackers to siphon off substantial amounts of digital assets.
Huione Pay received the stolen cryptocurrency between June 2023 and February 2024, without direct knowledge of their illicit origin.
The involvement of Huione Pay in this scandal underscores regulatory and compliance challenges in Cambodia.
Due to the scams, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has highlighted substantial deficiencies in Cambodia’s regulations concerning illicit finance, particularly in the cryptocurrency sector.
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$600 Million A Year Crypto Scam Orchestrated In North Korea
Apparently, almost four thousand North Koreans have been instructed to join the tech industry, specifically the cryptocurrency sector.
Here’s a new take on ‘sleeper agents’:
Fake job applicants, many from North Korea, are infiltrating crypto ventures, @Liam_Gallas reports for @DLNewsInfo.
Fascinating story…https://t.co/73Gm9swzVi
— Eddie Robinson (@EddieRob235) July 15, 2024
According to a DL News report, it is a big business. “They have very limited amounts of resources they can sell to China,” Taylor Monahan, lead security researcher at crypto wallet MetaMask, told DL News. “So they generate revenue by doing things like illegally selling resources, IT work, hard labour, and hacking.”
“Everyone I know is either working on another project or unavailable,” Zak Cole, co-founder of crypto venture studio Number Group, told DL News. “How are we going to bring in new talent?”
The hackers attempting to access crypto projects show intent of obtaining private information, hacking, and asset theft.
Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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