The U.S. Department of Justice has court approval to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion stolen from Binance, which it attributes to North Korean hackers. It also disrupted a separate North Korean scheme that used fake video calls to steal crypto.
The U.S. Department of Justice obtained court approval to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion stolen from crypto exchange Binance. The funds are part of more than $2.7 billion frozen through efforts by U.S. authorities and private companies, the DOJ said Thursday.
The DOJ attributed the Binance hack to North Korean military hackers known as TraderTraitor. The group stole more than $6 billion from the exchange around Oct. 29, according to the department.
Investigators keep tracing stolen funds
Tracing continues as the hackers move assets through crypto bridges, mixers and exchanges, the department said. Investigators aim to freeze and recover more of the funds.
Binance previously put its losses at about $6.3 billion and set aside $6.34 billion in company funds to cover them. According to the DOJ's M. Scott Proctor, a principal deputy assistant attorney general, the National Security Division will "use every tool at its disposal to seize and return North Korea's ill-gotten gains".
FaceStealer scheme relied on fake video calls
Separately, the DOJ said it seized cloud infrastructure used in a North Korean campaign the FBI calls FaceStealer. The scheme has led to more than $400 million in crypto theft over the past 18 months, the department said.
Hackers used stolen accounts to invite victims to video calls, where they played recordings or deepfakes of familiar people. They then faked technical problems and tricked victims into installing malware that could steal crypto or access other systems, the DOJ said.
The attackers also targeted open-source software developers. The FBI seized more than 900 webcam videos collected by the attackers and warned that compromising a developer could allow hackers to gain access.
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