Remote IT worker scam involving 90 laptops and stolen identities generated $17 million in illicit revenue allegedly bound for North Korea's nuclear weapons program

However you feel about hybrid or remote working, it's clear that the option to work from home offers many more opportunities for folks both near and far, but the US Department of Justice has recently shared a bizarre story that highlights a rarely seen dark side.

According to a recent press release from the DOJ, a woman from Arizona has been imprisoned for her part in facilitating a remote work scam that generated "more than $17 million in illicit revenue" for North Korea (via The Guardian). Back in February of this year, Christina Chapman pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments," resulting in an eight year prison sentence.

Using stolen identities and 90 now seized laptops, Chapman reportedly assisted North Koreans in posing as U.S. citizens in order to net high-paying, remote IT jobs at "309 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 corporations". Assistant Director Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division asserts this was done in a bid to siphon "millions of dollars for [North Korea's] nuclear weapons program." I told you it was bizarre.

According to the DOJ, Chapman acted as a halfway house for the remote workers' hardware in order to avert suspicion. Officials say she hosted a "laptop farm" organised with post-its identifying "the U.S. company and identity associated with each laptop."

The 90 machines making up this 'laptop farm' were seized back in October 2023, but Chapman had apparently "also shipped 49 laptops and other devices supplied by U.S. companies to locations overseas, including multiple shipments to a city in China on the border with North Korea."

As for Chapman's own motivation, she was originally approached over LinkedIn to “be the US face” of an overseas remote work company back in March 2020—as if I needed another good reason to ignore LinkedIn messages. Materials submitted by her attorneys allege she was looking after her ailing mother at the time, and that "Ms. Chapman did not fully understand the illegality of what she was being asked to do. What she did understand was that—for the first time in her life—she was financially stable and able to provide for her mother’s needs."

According to The Guardian, messages have since surfaced that suggest Chapman did have some understanding, highlighting a group chat message that reads, "I hope you guys can find other people to do your physical I-9s. These are federal documents. I will SEND them for you, but have someone else do the paperwork. I can go to FEDERAL PRISON for falsifying federal documents."

Chapman herself has since apologised for her actions in a letter to the court. She also took the opportunity to thank the FBI for arresting her because she'd been "trying to get away from the guys that I was working with for awhile [sic] and I wasn’t really sure how to do it.”