The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified the Bitcoin hackers from North Korea, saying they may attempt to cash in over $40 million from the sale.
Known as the Lazarus Group and APT38, the hackers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are responsible for several cryptocurrency thefts.
Summary
The FBI identifies the Bitcoin hackers and says they could cash in over $40 million
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning cryptocurrency companies about recent activity related to the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto.Â
Specifically, the FBI allegedly traced the crypto assets stolen by hackers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as Lazarus Group and APT38, and for being actors affiliated with TraderTraitor.
Not surprisingly, the US federal agency’s investigation found that TraderTraitor-affiliated actors moved about 1,580 Bitcoin from several cryptocurrency heists.
These funds are held in six Bitcoin addresses, and the FBI said their sale would earn the hackers the equivalent of more than $40 million.
The FBI also specified that the Lazarus Group and APT38 hackers were responsible for several high-profile international cryptocurrency thefts.
Among many, on 22 June 2023, they allegedly raided Alphapo for $60 million in crypto, and CoinsPaid for $37 million in crypto. Before that, on 2 June 2023, Atomic Wallet also suffered a $100 million cryptocurrency heist.
Lazarus Group hackers and the theft from Atomic Wallet involving Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether
Regarding the theft at Atomic Wallet, carried out at the hands of the Lazarus Group, in late June the victim’s statements had not convinced its crypto-community.
Basically, the attack had caused a $100 million loss in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether, and the Atomic Wallet team sought to engage all major blockchain analytics companies to prevent the sale of these coins or their conversion to fiat currencies.
While they moved in this way, Atomic Wallet explained that the causes of the incident could have been related to targeting viruses on local users’ devices, or breaching the infrastructure, or even injecting a malware code.
However, this intervention was not enough to appease the crypto-community in the loss of its assets.
In fact, it actually seems to have let loose a real attack against Atomic Wallet on Twitter for their actions and inability to protect customers’ assets.
In any case, the FBI’s current intervention is both reassuring and worrisome to the platform’s customers who were robbed.
This is because while the FBI has identified the six Bitcoin addresses where the funds from this theft are also located, it has not ruled out that it will be able to prevent the sale of the same, and thus the collection for the North Korean hackers.
The FBI exposes Bitcoin hackers but the Crypto Queen is still on the run
When talking about fraud with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, one cannot but mention the case of the “Crypto Queen” namely Ruja Ignatova, who has been on the run from the FBI for a good five years.Â
Basically, in 2016 Ignatova allegedly contributed to the $4 billion OneCoin pyramid scheme scam.
Her fugitive status with the FBI began in 2017, when in Sofia, Bulgaria, Ignatova allegedly took the last plane before her disappearance.
Not only that, the Crypto Queen’s story puts her among the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives, along with the likes of gang leaders, accused murderers and more.
