$5m reward for tips on N. Koreans in US extortion scheme

The US government on Thursday offered rewards of up to $5 million for information related to North Korean IT workers and companies engaged in illegal activities including money laundering and "certain cyber activity that supports the DPRK's (North Korea's) weapons of mass destruction.”

North Korean IT companies Yanbian Silverstar Network Technology Co., based in China, and Volasys Silverstar, based in Russia, are accused of deploying workers to be hired for remote and freelance work at US-based businesses, according to the US State Department.

Fourteen individuals -- ranging from upper management to IT staff -- are wanted for using illegally obtained identities of US citizens to generate at least $88 million in illicit revenue for the communist regime. The individuals and 130 accomplices gained employment as remote workers at US-based businesses and organizations by tricking employers into thinking they were currently or previously employed by reputable US companies.

The State Department believes the companies laundered their illicit profits to benefit North Korea.

The North Koreans are accused of installing remote access programs on laptops provided by their US employers -- in conspiracy with US citizens -- to extort payments by threatening to release sensitive information online. They are believed to have wired the substantial proceeds to North Korea-controlled bank accounts, which Washington believes have been used in connection with Pyongyang's programs for weapons of mass destruction.

The US district court in St. Louis indicted the 14 individuals in question on charges including wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI said they are also investigating the “domestic enablers” -- Americans who allegedly allowed the North Koreans to use their home Wi-Fi connections or stood in for the North Koreans in on-camera job interviews in exchange for payment.

More information about the reward is provided on the US government's Rewards for Justice webpage and its accounts on the social platform X.

North Korea is working to obtain nuclear strike capabilities that can reach the US mainland. Progress on the regime's intercontinental ballistic missile program has not been fully verified by outside groups, but the North has accelerated its nuclear tests and ballistic missile programs since leader Kim Jong-un came to power in 2012.