U.S. authorities have recovered approximately $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from Binance last month, according to a statement from the Department of Justice on Thursday. The stolen assets were linked to North Korean military actors, who are accused of orchestrating the heist. The October 29 attack on Binance resulted in the theft of over $6 billion, with collective efforts between the U.S. government and private sector freezing more than $2.7 billion of that amount.
The FBI has identified the perpetrators as members of the North Korean military, dubbed “TraderTraitor.” The DOJ emphasized its commitment to dismantling North Korea’s schemes to fund its regime through large-scale cryptocurrency theft. The seized assets include cryptocurrency and cloud-based infrastructure used in a sophisticated identity impersonation scam called “FaceStealer,” which has stolen over $400 million in cryptocurrency over 18 months.
The FaceStealer scheme involves hackers setting up fake video meetings using stolen accounts and AI-generated deepfakes. Victims, often individuals in the cryptocurrency and web3 industries, are tricked into installing malware, leading to the theft of their assets and the targeting of their contacts. FBI Assistant Director Patrick Grandy described FaceStealer as a highly effective social engineering scheme capable of deceiving even experienced users.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General M. Scott Proctor reiterated the U.S. government’s resolve to combat North Korea’s illicit activities. He stated that America will use every tool available to seize and return the regime’s ill-gotten gains, emphasizing the importance of fighting back against cybercrime.