Arizona Woman Arrested for Helping Steal Identities on Behalf of North Korea

She operated the scheme for three years before being caught.

By Braden Bjella

Published 3 months ago in Wtf

A woman in Arizona named Christina Chapman was sentenced to eight years in prison after a court determined that she had spent years helping North Koreans steal American identities in order to get remote jobs.


According to NPR, the scheme involved “68 stolen U.S. identities, more than 300 American companies and two international businesses.” How it would work is simple: North Korean workers would apply to American jobs using stolen identities, then Chapman would help them spoof their location by having them remote into a device in her house. When she was arrested, authorities found and seized over 90 devices.


In sentencing documents, Chapman’s attorneys claim that she didn’t initially realize how bad what she was doing actually was. However, once she understood she was involved in a North Korean scam, she continued to participate to help pay for her mother’s treatment for terminal renal cancer. America!


Authorities also note that the “job offer” that brought her into this scam came from LinkedIn — yet another reason to log off that website!

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