The United States government has launched two major legal actions aimed at seizing over $2.67 million in cryptocurrency assets stolen by North Korea's Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking collective. Filed on October 4, the complaints target assets linked to two high-profile hacks.

One of the cases involves $1.7 million in Tether, stolen during a 2022 breach of the Deribit exchange, which saw the platform lose $28 million. After infiltrating Deribit's hot wallet, the hackers funneled the funds through the Tornado Cash mixer and numerous Ethereum addresses to obscure the trail.

The second legal complaint focuses on $970,000 worth of Avalanche-bridged Bitcoin (BTC.b), stolen in a 2023 attack on the Stake.com gambling platform. This hack left Stake with losses exceeding $41 million.

These incidents are just a fraction of Lazarus Group’s operations. The North Korean hackers are also suspected in a July 2024 attack on WazirX, where $235 million was siphoned from the platform. Investigators have also uncovered a network of North Korean developers posing under false identities to infiltrate at least 25 crypto projects, compromising their code and looting funds.

In September, the FBI warned the public about social engineering scams linked to the Lazarus Group. These scams often involve fake job offers that trick victims into downloading malware, leading to the theft of personal data or financial losses.

As the US intensifies efforts to combat these cyberattacks, the global crypto community remains on high alert.

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