WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Young Kim (CA-40) introduced the North Korean FAKER Act to authorize the Secretary of State to coordinate sanctions with U.S. allies against North Korean IT worker fraud perpetrators and their foreign enablers.
North Korea has transformed remote work fraud into a major source of funding for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The regime dispatches thousands of IT workers who use stolen identities and AI-generated personas to obtain remote jobs at unsuspecting companies, including hundreds of American firms. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) confiscates up to 90 percent of these workers’ wages, generating millions of dollars each year to finance its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.
“Every paycheck sent to one of North Korea’s fake IT workers risks funding Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions,” said Rep. Young Kim. “American companies should not be unknowingly bankrolling North Korea’s weapons programs. I’m leading the North Korean FAKER Act to expose these fraudulent schemes, sanction the enablers, and cut off a key source of revenue fueling one of the world’s most dangerous regimes.”
Specifically, the North Korean FAKER Act would:
- Align sanctions and other restrictive measures against individuals and entities that knowingly engage in or facilitate North Korean remote IT worker schemes
- Enhance information sharing with allies on DPRK money laundering, proliferation networks, and fraud schemes
- Prioritize diplomatic engagement with jurisdictions that host, enable, or fail to prevent illicit DPRK remote workforce activity
- Develop coordinated strategies and security assistance to prevent DPRK sanctions evasion and proliferation financing
- Increase rewards through the Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program for information that helps disrupt these schemes
- Partner with the private sector, including cybersecurity firms, financial institutions, and digital asset platforms, to detect and disrupt these schemes
- Publicly attribute illicit remote worker schemes to North Korea through joint statements and advisories with allies
- Require annual reporting to Congress on these activities and recommendations for additional action
Read the full bill text HERE.
