North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
North Korea is reportedly deploying tens of thousands of remote “IT workers” who use stolen or borrowed identities to get jobs at Western companies, funneling much of their earnings back to the regime and potentially acting as insider threats. Commenters debate whether calling them “fake” is accurate given they perform real work, likening the practice instead to state-backed fraud, espionage, or bonded labor, and note how weak identity verification and remote hiring practices enable the scheme. The exchange broadens into arguments over the ethics of sanctions, the realities of life in North Korea, and how much of a security risk these workers pose to corporate and national infrastructure.
Meaning of “fake workers”
- Many question calling them “fake” since they are real people doing real IT work.
- Clarifications in thread: “fake” refers to use of stolen identities, falsified paperwork, misrepresented location, and intent to evade sanctions and labor laws.
- Others suggest better terms: fraudulent, deceptive, spies, foreign agents, bonded labor, or even “advanced persistent coworker/telecommuter.”
- Some see them primarily as potential insider threats, planted to exfiltrate data or gain privileged access over time.
Economic scale and math
- Headline implies ~$5,000/year per worker ($500M / 100k), which several find low.
- Explanations offered: churn from getting caught and fired; overhead for U.S. “fronts” and proxies; multiple support staff per “front” worker; inclusion of lower-revenue overseas labor (timber, restaurants, mercenaries).
- Others note that even this amount is large in North Korean terms and that the regime likely captures most of it.
Working conditions and “slavery” debate
- Some compare this to bonded labor or slavery because most earnings go to the state and workers likely cannot refuse.
- Others push back, distinguishing this from wage labor in liberal economies, emphasizing that Western employees can legally quit and leave.
- A separate “wage slavery vs. real slavery” debate ensues, with disagreement over whether economic dependence equals slavery.
Security, legality, and hiring practices
- Discussion that the work is highly illegal under U.S. law (sanctions, false identities), though North Korea ignores U.S. jurisdiction.
- Participants highlight bigger risk than lost wages: temporary access to internal systems, source code, and sensitive data.
- Some argue companies should insist on in-person verification; others counter this can be faked with stand-ins and deepfakes.
- Reports of scams: fronts using real U.S./EU identities, home proxy servers, laptop “farms,” and offers to “rent” résumés or have locals front client communications.
Anecdotes and detection
- Interviewers report candidates with inconsistent identities, weak spoken English despite claimed Western degrees, and obvious off-screen coding assistance.
- Some recruiters say they’ve built heuristics to spot likely North Korean applicants and have seen calls abruptly terminated when challenged.
- Suggested “litmus tests” (e.g., asking about Kim Jong Un inappropriately) are viewed as unreliable long term.