A Ukrainian national, Oleksandr Didenko, was sentenced to five years in a US prison after pleading guilty to operating Upworksell.com, which sold stolen U.S. identities to overseas — including North Korean — IT workers and facilitated laptop farms. Didenko admitted to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, forfeited over $1.4 million, and his operation used 871 proxy identities to enable access to U.S. freelance platforms and financial systems. #OleksandrDidenko #Upworksell #LaptopFarms
Keypoints
- Oleksandr Didenko pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 60 months in prison.
- He operated Upworksell.com to sell or rent stolen U.S. identities to overseas IT workers seeking freelance jobs.
- Didenko managed 871 proxy identities and supported at least three laptop farms hosted in Virginia, Tennessee, and California.
- Overseas clients earned hundreds of thousands of dollars working for about 40 U.S. companies and transferred income to foreign bank accounts.
- Upworksell.com was seized on May 16, 2024; Didenko was arrested in Poland, extradited to the U.S., and agreed to forfeit more than $1.4 million and pay restitution.
Read More: https://www.securityweek.com/ukrainian-gets-5-years-in-us-prison-for-aiding-north-korean-it-fraud/