Crypto hackers strike again: $400m stolen weeks after record Binance heist

North Korean hackers stole more than $400 million in crypto through deepfake video calls, the FBI said, just weeks after the record $6.3 billion Binance heist.

North Korean hackers have stolen more than $400 million in cryptocurrency over the past 18 months using deepfake video calls, the FBI said on Thursday, just weeks after the record $6.3 billion Binance heist, The Hacker News reports.

The scheme, dubbed “FaceStealer”, sees hackers hijack victims’ messaging accounts and invite their contacts to fake Zoom or Teams investment meetings.

During the calls, prerecorded footage and AI deepfakes of trusted contacts are used before a fake technical error tricks targets into installing malware that drains their crypto wallets.

“North Korean cyber actors have used the FaceStealer scheme to aggressively target individuals in the cryptocurrency and Web3 sectors,” said FBI official Brett Leatherman.

The FBI said it had seized the scheme’s cloud infrastructure and more than 900 webcam videos of victims, Yahoo News reported.

The Justice Department also moved to seize over $1.2 billion stolen in the Binance hack, which the FBI blamed on North Korean military hackers. Pyongyang has denied involvement.