Arizona Woman Accused of Helping North Koreans Get Remote IT Jobs At 300 Companies (arstechnica.com) 46
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: An Arizona woman has been accused of helping generate millions of dollars for North Korea's ballistic missile program by helping citizens of that country land IT jobs at US-based Fortune 500 companies. Christina Marie Chapman, 49, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, raised $6.8 million in the scheme, federal prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Thursday. Chapman allegedly funneled the money to North Korea's Munitions Industry Department, which is involved in key aspects of North Korea's weapons program, including its development of ballistic missiles. Part of the alleged scheme involved Chapman and co-conspirators compromising the identities of more than 60 people living in the US and using their personal information to get North Koreans IT jobs across more than 300 US companies.
As another part of the alleged conspiracy, Chapman operated a "laptop farm" at one of her residences to give the employers the impression the North Korean IT staffers were working from within the US; the laptops were issued by the employers. By using proxies and VPNs, the overseas workers appeared to be connecting from US-based IP addresses. Chapman also received employees' paychecks at her home, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors said that Chapman and three North Korean IT workers -- using the aliases of Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, Haoran Xu, and others -- had been working since at least 2020 to plan a remote-work scheme. In March of that year, prosecutors said, an individual messaged Chapman on LinkedIn and invited her to "be the US face" of their company. From August to November of 2022, the North Korean IT workers allegedly amassed guides and other information online designed to coach North Koreans on how to write effective cover letters and resumes and falsify US Permanent Resident Cards.
Under the alleged scheme, the foreign workers developed "fictitious personas and online profiles to match the job requirements" and submitted fake documents to the Homeland Security Department as part of an employment eligibility check. Chapman also allegedly discussed with co-conspirators about transferring the money earned from their work. Chapman was arrested Wednesday. It wasn't immediately known when she or Didenko were scheduled to make their first appearance in court. If convicted, Chapman faces 97.5 years in prison, and Didenko faces up to 67.5 years.
As another part of the alleged conspiracy, Chapman operated a "laptop farm" at one of her residences to give the employers the impression the North Korean IT staffers were working from within the US; the laptops were issued by the employers. By using proxies and VPNs, the overseas workers appeared to be connecting from US-based IP addresses. Chapman also received employees' paychecks at her home, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors said that Chapman and three North Korean IT workers -- using the aliases of Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, Haoran Xu, and others -- had been working since at least 2020 to plan a remote-work scheme. In March of that year, prosecutors said, an individual messaged Chapman on LinkedIn and invited her to "be the US face" of their company. From August to November of 2022, the North Korean IT workers allegedly amassed guides and other information online designed to coach North Koreans on how to write effective cover letters and resumes and falsify US Permanent Resident Cards.
Under the alleged scheme, the foreign workers developed "fictitious personas and online profiles to match the job requirements" and submitted fake documents to the Homeland Security Department as part of an employment eligibility check. Chapman also allegedly discussed with co-conspirators about transferring the money earned from their work. Chapman was arrested Wednesday. It wasn't immediately known when she or Didenko were scheduled to make their first appearance in court. If convicted, Chapman faces 97.5 years in prison, and Didenko faces up to 67.5 years.
Was Jia Tan one of them? (Score:2)
Probably the wrong timezone, and I can't even remember which timejone Jia Tan was pretending to work from.
Re: Was Jia Tan one of them? (Score:3)
Seems like we now have Arizona woman in addition to Florida man.
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I hope they throw the book at this cunt.
Send a VERY strong message that this shit will not be tolerated.
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If I recall he was "pretending" to be Signapore, but in practice was more consistent with about GMT+3 and holiday behavior that similarly made more sense there.
But it's all circumstantial, we have no substantial clue about the persona's true nature.
Cash or spying too? (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder if this was just a pure cash scheme or they also used their access to spy and implant malware. Eventually the spying would be caught so they'd have to weigh the benefit of cash vs intelligence work.
Re:Cash or spying too? Moles (Score:2)
Want Spies With That? Chinese and Iranian Moles Are Posing As DoorDash Drivers [dailymail.co.uk]
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True but NK is cash starved in a way China and Iran are not. NK barely has an economy vs China with a huge but cracked economy and Iran with an oil based and hurting but still kinda working economy of sorts. At base level, the average Iranian or Chinese is not starving. The same is not the case in NK.
lazy with cross referencing? (Score:1)
Seems like a flag should have been raised way earlier since it's been going on since 2020?
-60+ individuals with the same address.
- laptop farm using how much energy and bandwidth?
- state / federal returns to how many people at one locations
Re: lazy with cross referencing? (Score:2)
If it bothers you so much, why don't you just donate to North Korea directly?
Re: lazy with cross referencing? (Score:2)
Sure, North Koreans can work for Kim Jong Donut, and corporations can get cheap labor from Vietnam.
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Sounds like they were working at multiple private companies and it wasn't until applying at gov't organizations that a flag went up.
Probably a drop in the bucket (Score:3, Informative)
More Chinese Nationals Illegally Entered The U.S. In Two Days This Month Than In All Of 2021 [thefederalist.com]
“The CCP leadership’s chemical and political warfare against the U.S. coincides with a surge in the number of Chinese illegal aliens crossing the southern border without authorization. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more than 10,000 Chinese unlawful aliens have been apprehended since October 2022, compared to fewer than 500 in the same period in 2021. This increase may be attributed to various factors, such as the economic and social uncertainties and the limited personal freedoms in China, the demand for cheap labor, and the effectiveness of smugglers already positioned in the U.S.”
Re: Probably a drop in the bucket (Score:1)
1. outsource fentanyl production to china
2. china produces fentanyl
3. CHINA IS ENGAGING IN CHEMICAL WARFARE
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If this number is based on the number caught, then it's scary to think how many got in when Trump's daughter was busy negotiating with the Chinese over trademarks, and he had a financial interest in looking the other way.
Treason? (Score:2)
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Re:Treason? (Score:4, Informative)
Indeed. The last time the U.S. actually declared war was in WWII.
Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq Part 2 - wars by any reasonable definition - were done under quasi-war-like authorizations like "It's just a UN police action [trumanlibrary.gov]" or "Resolution [wikipedia.org]" "Authorization for Use of Military Force (Terrorists [wikipedia.org]! Saddam [wikipedia.org]!). Not to mention lots of smaller actions - by every president since FDR - in a host of countries with various rationales. By and large, Congress abdicated its war-declaring powers generations ago, and has been too chickenshit and feckless to claw it back ever since.
On the other hand, the Korean War never technically ended - there was an armistice [wikipedia.org], but it wasn't ever officially accepted by South Korea, was only meant to cease hostilities "until a final peaceful settlement is achieved", which has never happened. Seventy-one years later: way to follow through, guys!
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Re:Treason? (Score:4, Informative)
Treason is only applicable when levying war against the U.S. [constitutioncenter.org] Since we are not at war with NK, treason is not applicable.
Uh, no.
What the Constitution actually says: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
I understand that reading is hard, and few people have the stamina required to read an entire sentence. In this case there is important information found beyond the comma. It's the "or" part of the senntence: or "in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. "
Anyway, the USA and North Korea are still in a state of war. The fighting stopped with an armistice agreement between the military leaders in 1953, but all peace negotiations between the governments have failed since then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
What these people are doing in forging identities for North Koreans to pretend to be Americans and transferring money to North Korea would be treason in any war.
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It is not a good solution to become as morally bankrupt as N. Korea.
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I rather have employees of a known hostile nation-state than have the death penalty for everything and anything, with cruel punishments for smaller crimes. This is bordering on Maoism where it was the death penalty for stealing bread on up.
Fuck societies like that. I want no part of such a twisted, warped, brutal society where if you do a crime, might as well follow it up with a mass shooting because the punishment will be the same either way.
This isn't Fallout, and fuck the people wanting a dystopian fut
Name the lazys (Score:5, Interesting)
Apparently not a single company bothered to introduce themselves to these "employees", nor bothered to even speak with them via video. Just another side effect of WFH.
All the companies who were too lazy to do the bare minimum should be named so we know who not to do business with. If they were too lazy to check in on their "employees", what other shit job are they doing?
Re:Name the lazys (Score:5, Funny)
If you have even the slightest thought that any of this is wrong, you hate freedom, you hate America, you hate your mother and apple pie, and you are a woke commie scum who should be rounded up and shot by an honest God fearing real man wearing a MAGA hat. God Bless America and FREEDOM!!
Little help here (Score:2)
Pretty amazing job, IMO. Sounds like a great recruiter, is she taking on new clients?
I'm tired of all these dopey interviews and array sorting questions - sounds like she found a way to get around them.
From what all I "know" I'm wondering (Score:5, Interesting)
I thought N. Korea was completely isolated, how do people develop the technical skills if they have no 'real world' access from there to start?
Re:From what all I "know" I'm wondering (Score:4, Informative)
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I thought N. Korea was completely isolated, how do people develop the technical skills if they have no 'real world' access from there to start?
China.
China is a patron country to North Korea. They provide equipment, internet access, and training of the individuals involved.
Note: this is not general access for citizens. This is limited to chosen agents employed by the government operating from government facilities.
NK Hackers and the Lazarus Heist (Score:2)
The BBC did a good story on the Lazarus Heist [bbc.com] and goes into some detail on the hackers of North Korea. There's also a 10-part podcast, linked to in the article.
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Take all this with a grain of salt as I'm not super-informed and going off memory.
To my understanding the capital is relatively high-tech. The country's leadership has an interest in keeping up with technology so that it continues to pose a threat and thus stays alive. It would stand to reason that there are a lot of tech-y North Koreans there available for this kind of work.
You also may not have heard of the relatively large amount of cyberwarfare that North Korea is conducting, which also implies quite a
Tips of the Iceberg (Score:2)
Wow, how do you get involved in this kind of stuff, and expect to get away with it? Did the North Korean spies just throw her under the bus before fleeing the country?
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Treason in the US consists of "waging war on the United States".
Don't forget, "...adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort...." I don't know how hard it is to make this stick, but it seems like it may apply.