Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty
After an investigation that spanned at least a half-decade, the feds have interrupted a scheme that exploited online freelance job sites “to circumvent U.S. sanctions and earn money for North Korean government entities involved in ballistic missile research and development.”
On Wednesday, the FBI announced the seizure of 12 web domains North Korea allegedly set up to masquerade as legitimate U.S.-based tech firms. The feds also seized at least $1.1 million held in online accounts by North Korean agents pretending to be Americans.
An FBI search warrant affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast provides insight into how North Korean agents allegedly obfuscated their true identities to get remote IT jobs in the United States, generating millions of dollars for Pyongyang.