Nashville man arrested for running “laptop farm” to get jobs for North Koreans

The North Korean national was hired even after KnowBe4 conducted background checks, verified references, and conducted four video interviews while he was an applicant. The fake applicant was able to stymie those checks by using a stolen identity and a photo that was altered with AI tools to create a fake profile picture and mimic the face during video conference calls.

In May federal prosecutors charged an Arizona woman for allegedly raising $6.8 million in a similar scheme to fund the weapons program. The defendant in that case, Christina Marie Chapman, 49, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, and co-conspirators compromised the identities of more than 60 people living in the US and used their personal information to get North Koreans IT jobs across more than 300 US companies.

The FBI and Departments of State and Treasury issued a May 2022 advisory alerting the international community, private sector, and public of a campaign underway to land North Korean nationals IT jobs in violation of many countries’ laws. US and South Korean officials issued updated guidance in October 2023 and again in May 2024. The advisories include signs that may indicate North Korea IT worker fraud and the use of US-based laptop farms.

The North Korean IT workers using Knoot’s laptop farm generated revenue of more than $250,000 each between July 2022 and August 2023. Much of the funds were then funneled to North Korea’s weapons program, which includes weapons of mass destruction, prosecutors said.

Knoot faces charges, including wire fraud, intentional damage to protected computers, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to cause the unlawful employment of aliens. If found guilty, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.