Federal agents searched more than 40 Texas residences as part of an investigation into a North Korean cyber scheme that allowed foreign operatives to obtain remote jobs with American companies and generate revenue for the regime’s weapons program.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced Tuesday that the FBI seized 187 laptops and electronic devices while conducting “Operation Lonestar Roundup,” including approximately 100 devices in North Texas.
According to investigators, North Korean IT workers used stolen or fabricated American identities to secure remote positions with U.S. companies while concealing their actual locations.
These arrangements, known as “laptop farms,” enabled North Korean workers to appear as though they were in the United States.
The workers relied on U.S.-based facilitators who received company-issued laptops, configured the devices, and installed remote-access software that allowed operatives overseas to access American corporate systems.
Federal authorities said these laptop farms intended to support North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction, such as ballistic missiles, intelligence, and nuclear programs.
“This investigation is about far more than fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “It is about a hostile foreign regime infiltrating American companies through stolen identities and covert access points inside our own borders.”
Investigators were also able to uncover fraudulent Google accounts and virtual private networks to hide the workers’ identities and facilitate the scheme.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has identified the network of North Korean IT workers and their facilitators as “Famous Chollima.”
FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said each seized laptop potentially represents an American company that unknowingly hired a North Korean operative.
“Every laptop farm we dismantle shuts down a revenue stream that the North Korean government relies on to fund weapons programs that threaten global stability,” Raybould added.
The investigation remains ongoing, and federal authorities have encouraged individuals and companies with information about the scheme to submit reports through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
