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North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
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Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#72I’m a little unclear on the usage of the word “fake” here. Going by article, these are real people doing actual real work, they often use stolen identities to conceal information about themselves, and they get help from outside sources to do their jobs better. Whatever the right word is, it’s not “fake”. Maybe fraudulent? Or ulterior motives? Or deceptive? Or pretext? Or threat actor? Or foreign agents?
It's North Korea though and they're all eViL. Imagine a world where the U.S lifted sanctions on N.K. traded with them and stopped crying about losing a war 70 years ago. Ah well a boy can dream. Edit: Lol saying anything positive about North Korea on hacker news and people instantly freak out. This fucking website man. North Korea isn't what I would call a free society but it's also not the hell on earth that most li…
Lot's of people have tried trading with North Korea, but they're politically unreliable. China and Russia both try obviously, but so has South Korea. These cooperations usually work for a while but eventually the unreliable reality of the North Korean government wrecks it for them. If it were all America's fault, as these sort of regimes always claim, they'd be able to get on well enough with their neighbors, but they can't.
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's North Korea though and they're all eViL. Imagine a world where the U.S lifted sanctions on N.K. traded with them and stopped crying about losing a war 70 years ago. Ah well a boy can dream. Edit: Lol saying anything positive about North Korea on hacker news and people instantly freak out. This fucking website man. North Korea isn't what I would call a free society but it's also not the hell on earth that most li…
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Even other communist dictatorships are pretty sick of North Korea's shit!
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#74If anyone pays so much money to someone they never met, or _dependable_ know their identity, that seems like a major fail. The whole idea that someone who couldn't legally enter the US, gets easier clearance than any tourist, or foreign academic with an opinion about the current gov that seems uncomfortable to them baffles me. Not the first time some priorities seem out of touch with reality.
The point is that there are legit American citizens who are in on the con. They have real SSNs and an actual presence in the US. They run proxy servers out of their house to make it seem like that's where their web traffic is coming from. From the company's perspective, everything seems like a regular remote employee.
A proxy server can't fool an in-person interview. Totally bizarre how in-person interviews have fallen out of fashion, now that they're needed the most.
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#75How are these IT workers fake? Sounds like they are really doing the job.
Reminds me of the Key & Peele sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgYYOUC10aM > Once employed in a full-time role, fake workers are often very successful, since they sometimes have multiple people helping them to produce their work, with the hope of getting a promotion and gaining more privileged access to the IT systems. I think the "fake" part is the long term play to get enough privilege to presumably perform…
Came here to post this. I'm glad someone else thought of it. "Hear me out... we're going to rip of Western companies by... get this... writing code for them and taking home a paycheck week after week. They're just going to give us the money!!"
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree - this is closer to bonded labor though the paying employer doesn't know it. Instead most of their earnings go to their actual employer (which is the North Korean state). "slave" maybe is more appropriate? "prisoner"?
most of my earnings go to my employer too... we bill clients at X and I get a small portion of it
Exactly. As slave as them.
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Frankly sounds like many "real" candidates I've interviewed. The tenuous grasp of spoken English despite a degree taught in English is also not unusual. Setting aside the fraud for a moment (which is an insurmountable barrier to employeeing them). To some extent I'd be satisfied if they actually had a degree and were productive. They obviously need good enough receptive and written English to work. Especially if they…
The far more common fraud is: 1) Hire fake candidate 2) You realize they're fake 1-2 weeks into the role. They are unreliable. They don't show up for meetings. You have trouble communicating with them 3) You fire them But they've already won the game. They collected a single paycheck. And for an intermediate (even junior) dev position, collecting even just a single paycheck is a big pay day for them. The main cost to…
This is a little baffling to me, if you're suggesting this is an actual method people employ to make a living. Interviewing is difficult and stressful. Or maybe their approach is a shotgun strategy, so they don't care?
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#78I’m a little unclear on the usage of the word “fake” here. Going by article, these are real people doing actual real work, they often use stolen identities to conceal information about themselves, and they get help from outside sources to do their jobs better. Whatever the right word is, it’s not “fake”. Maybe fraudulent? Or ulterior motives? Or deceptive? Or pretext? Or threat actor? Or foreign agents?
"Fake" seems fine. If I buy a fake watch, that might mean that it's a real watch that does its job of telling time, but it says "Rolex" on the front and that's a lie.
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#79The numbers in the headline seem odd. They imply that each (fake|fraudulent) worker only nets $5000 per year for Kim. I know the system has some inefficiencies where people behind the scenes are helping the "employee" with the work and there are cost of living expenses, taxes etc. but that seems like a pretty low take.
It would be ironic if the DPRK just passes on more of the money than most contract software companies.
Re: North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim
#80I’m a little unclear on the usage of the word “fake” here. Going by article, these are real people doing actual real work, they often use stolen identities to conceal information about themselves, and they get help from outside sources to do their jobs better. Whatever the right word is, it’s not “fake”. Maybe fraudulent? Or ulterior motives? Or deceptive? Or pretext? Or threat actor? Or foreign agents?
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