AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File
The seal on the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building is seen June 9, 2023, in Washington.
The homes of over 40 residents in Texas were raided as part of an FBI investigation into an alleged North Korean “laptop farm” used to “generate revenue for North Korea’s weapons programs,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Approximately 187 laptops were seized as part of the operation, according to the office.
The alleged scheme involved North Korean IT workers accessing U.S. corporate systems via stolen or falsified American identities, according to the FBI. The majority of the laptops were located in North Texas and were allegedly used remotely by North Korean workers to apply for and work remote U.S. jobs.
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“This investigation is about far more than fraud,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said via a written statement. “It is about a hostile foreign regime infiltrating American companies through stolen identities and covert access points inside our own borders. Every laptop farm we dismantle shuts down a revenue stream that the North Korean government relies on to fund weapons programs that threaten global stability.”
According to investigators, the alleged scheme relied on U.S.-based “facilitators” who would receive and set up the laptops so North Korean workers could remotely access them.
The investigation remains ongoing, and federal prosecutors did not announce any arrests related to the laptop seizure.