Amazon says over 1,800 North Koreans blocked from applying for jobs

"A top Amazon executive has said the US technology giant has blocked more than 1,800 job applications from suspected North Korean agents. North Koreans tried to apply for remote working IT jobs using stolen or fake identities, Amazon's chief security officer Stephen Schmidt said in a LinkedIn post. 'Their objective is typically straightforward: get hired, get paid, and funnel wages back to fund the regime's weapons programs,' he said, adding that this trend is likely to be happening at scale across the industry,"

"The firm used a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and verification by its staff to screen job applications, he said. The strategies used by such fraudsters have become more sophisticated, Mr Schmidt said. Bad actors are hijacking dormant LinkedIn accounts using leaked credentials to gain verification. They target genuine software engineers to appear credible, he said, urging firms to report suspicious job applications to the authorities."

Amazon blocked more than 1,800 job applications from suspected North Korean agents who used stolen or fake identities to apply for remote IT roles. Job applications from North Koreans rose by nearly one-third over the past year. Operatives coordinate with managers of "laptop farms"—US-based computers run remotely from abroad—to receive wages that are funneled back to fund weapons programs. The company combined AI tools and manual verification to detect fraud. Fraud tactics include hijacking dormant LinkedIn accounts with leaked credentials and impersonating genuine software engineers. Employers should report suspicious applications and watch for mismatched education or incorrectly formatted phone numbers.

Read at www.bbc.com