North Korea Stole $400 Million in Crypto Using Deepfake Video Calls, DOJ Says

What happened

In brief The DOJ said North Korean hackers stole more than $400 million in crypto over 18 months via “FaceStealer,” a scheme using secretly recorded webcam footage and AI deepfakes of trusted figures to win targets’ trust on video calls. Separately, the DOJ has obtained authorization to seize over $1.2 billion tied to the Binance hack, part of $2.7 billion frozen.

Justice Department said Thursday , as it announced the seizure of the infrastructure behind the operation. According to the DOJ, hackers lure targets into meetings using accounts stolen from previous victims, then play prerecorded webcam footage of trusted contacts to simulate their presence and win the target’s confidence.

The FBI says the “FaceStealer” scheme operates with prerecorded footage and AI deepfakes of trusted contacts to trick crypto workers into installing malware on video calls—as the DOJ also moves to seize $1.2 billion from the Binance hack. Decrypt News Law and Order The FBI says the “FaceStealer” scheme operates with prerecorded footage and AI deepfakes of trusted contacts to trick crypto workers into installing malware on video calls—as the DOJ also moves to seize $1.2 billion from the Binance hack.

The hackers increasingly target open-source developers, apparently to enable supply-chain attacks. North Korean hackers have stolen more than $400 million in cryptocurrency over the past 18 months using a social-engineering scheme built on secretly recorded footage and AI deepfakes, the U.S.

The scheme, which the FBI calls “FaceStealer,” turns video conference calls into a trap. The group also generates deepfake videos of well-known figures in the crypto and related industries, using AI to make the ruse more convincing.

From there, the hackers can drain crypto wallets or exploit the victim’s access to other systems, sometimes waiting months or more than a year before striking.