The Department of Justice announced the disruption of multiple laptop farms in Texas that it says were run by North Korean nationals to trick U.S. companies into hiring remote IT workers using stolen identities. Law enforcement raided more than 40 residences between September 21 and 25, seizing 187 laptops and other devices. Two U.S. nationals, Michael James Bostelle and Juan Cecilio Pena Carrillo, were arrested and indicted on wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft charges.
Prosecutors say the two men hosted laptops and helped IT workers obtain fake identification documents, enabling a group of North Koreans to earn over $3 million from roughly 70 companies across 17 states. The indictment also names U.S. national Trey Michael Nolte, who allegedly ran a shell company that facilitated the scheme, but he was not charged and the DOJ did not explain why.
The FBI released a new public service announcement describing how North Korea is adapting its tactics. The scheme now includes subcontracting jobs to freelancers in South Asia and West Africa, paying Americans to appear in interviews or host devices, and targeting people facing financial stress. The FBI also warned that when North Koreans are caught, they have used threats of physical violence or threats to leak sensitive corporate data to demand payment.