Binance Hack: US Moves To Seize $1.2B Stolen By North Korea

The US Justice Department won court approval to seize more than $1.2 billion of the crypto North Korean hackers stole from Binance, part of $2.7 billion now frozen from the $6 billion heist.

Key Takeaways

North Korean military hackers stole more than $6 billion from Binance on or about Oct. 29, the DOJ said
US government and private sector efforts have frozen more than $2.7 billion of it
The DOJ also seized cloud servers behind FaceStealer, a deepfake video call scam that stole over $400 million
The FBI seized more than 900 webcam videos the hackers secretly recorded from victims

The department announced the actions on Thursday. The FBI calls the group behind the Binance theft TraderTraitor. Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., and the department’s cyber units worked with crypto exchanges and other service providers to freeze the money.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said investigators moved fast enough to “immediately halt about half of this historic breach.” The FBI has also asked crypto firms to block transactions linked to addresses the hackers use to launder the loot.

Also Read: Binance Moves $1.69B In Bitcoin After North Korea Hack

Frozen Is Not The Same As Returned

A court-approved seizure or restraint stops the coins from moving, but the money is not yet back with its owners. “The National Security Division will use every tool at its disposal to seize and return North Korea’s ill-gotten gains,” said M. Scott Proctor, a senior national security official at the department.

North Korea crypto theft	Amount
Stolen from Binance, Oct. 29	More than $6 billion
Frozen by US and private sector	More than $2.7 billion
Court-approved seizure or restraint	More than $1.2 billion
Stolen through FaceStealer in 18 months	More than $400 million
Webcam videos seized by the FBI	More than 900

The Deepfake Video Call Scam

FaceStealer starts with a video meeting invite sent from an account stolen from an earlier victim. The hackers record the target’s webcam, play prerecorded clips of people the target knows, then fake a sound problem and offer a “fix” that installs malware.

They also use AI to make deepfake videos of well-known crypto and Web3 figures to win trust, the DOJ said. The hackers sometimes wait months, or more than a year, before stealing crypto and hijacking accounts, and the FBI said the scheme now also targets people who maintain open-source software.