FBI Warns of North Korean Fake Video Call Tactics Following $400M Crypto Hack

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently issued a warning notice to the public regarding North Korean hackers who used fake video to scam unsuspecting individuals. These hackers, according to the report, have stolen $400 million in cryptocurrency through the use of FaceStealer campaign. This campaign uses impersonated accounts and recorded webcam video footage to scam victims in the Web3 and crypto space and has been operating for more than 18 months.

FBI Busts North Korea’s $400M FaceStealer Campaign 

The US Department of Justice, in collaboration with the FBI, announced on November 12 that authorities had shut down cloud infrastructure used in the FaceStealer campaign. Also, the FBI acknowledged that it had recovered over 900 webcam videos belonging to victims.

North Korean hackers, according to the Justice Department, use hacked social media accounts to communicate with people linked to previous victims. After that, they set up video meetings with these unsuspecting victims through imitation versions of platforms like Zoom. In the course of these video meetings, these hackers play recorded video footage of people these victims recognize. Next, they introduce fake audio or technical issues and present instructions the victims must follow to resolve the issue. Those instructions will prompt the victims to install malware that will give the hackers access to the victims’ phone and account and possibly their crypto wallets.

North Korea Crypto Hack Scheme Targets Web3 Developers

According to the FBI, the FaceStealer campaign targets Web3 and crypto workers as well as open-source software developers. Access to a developer’s device or software repository account could expose frequently used projects to supply-chain attacks. 

Additionally, the FBI also reported that hackers almost compromised a major open-source JavaScript library through the campaign early this year. However, the attempted attack was busted before it could cause severe harm. The Bureau also noted that the operation capitalizes on trust between colleagues and familiar contacts. Cyber Branch Operations Director of the FBI Brett Leatherman said that North Korea relies on large-scale crypto theft to fund its illegal weapons program.

Binance Crypto Theft Also Adds to North Korea’s Growing Threat

The recent warning from the FBI comes after the largest crypto theft in history regarding more than $6 billion in virtual assets stolen. Following this theft, the US authorities and private-sector partners have frozen over $2.7 billion linked to the theft. The department also restrained over $1.2 billion after receiving authorization from the court. 

Although the exchange announced in October that it has successfully covered 90% of the losses from the incident, the Binance and FaceStealer $400 million incident shows the growing threat in North Korea related to cryptocurrency and Web3. The FBI has urged crypto enthusiasts and software developers to first of all verify any meeting invitations through different communication or social media channels and also avoid installing software through unexpected prompts.