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North Korea–Linked Group Uses Deepfake Calls to Infect Crypto Workers’ Macs

Attackers pose as trusted contacts on Zoom or Teams, pushing a bogus audio fix linked by Huntress to TA444.

Overview

  • BTC Prague co‑founder Martin Kuchař reported his Telegram account takeover and described a live deepfake call used to deliver a supposed Zoom audio fix.
  • Victims are approached through hijacked Telegram accounts, shown an AI‑generated likeness on a muted call, and urged to run a file that hands over full system access.
  • Huntress previously documented spoofed Zoom domains and a malicious AppleScript on macOS that disables shell history, may install Rosetta 2, elevates privileges, and drops backdoors, keyloggers, clipboard tools, and wallet stealers.
  • Security researchers attribute the campaign with high confidence to Lazarus subgroup TA444, also known as BlueNoroff.
  • Chainalysis recorded a record $17 billion in crypto losses in 2025 tied to AI‑driven impersonation scams, and a MetaMask researcher has warned that similar tactics have already netted more than $300 million.