A joint warning from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Japan’s National Police Agency and other international authorities says the North Korea-linked hacking group WaterPlum, also known as Contagious Interview, ran a fake recruitment campaign targeting IT developers worldwide. According to the alert, the group posed as companies in the AI, cryptocurrency and NFT sectors between December 2025 and July 2026 and approached job seekers through social media and recruiting platforms.
Victims were told to complete technical interviews or coding tests, then tricked into downloading malicious files. The warning says the operation infected more than 30,000 devices across over 100 countries and regions and stole data from more than 7,000 crypto wallets. At least $10.71 million was transferred into wallets controlled by the attackers. The case was highlighted in a multi-agency alert cited by Odaily.
Odaily reported that a joint warning issued by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Japan’s National Police Agency and other international agencies identified the North Korea-linked hacking group WaterPlum, also known as Contagious Interview, as the operator of a fake hiring campaign targeting IT developers worldwide.
According to the warning, the group posed as companies in the AI, cryptocurrency and NFT sectors from December 2025 to July 2026 and advertised fake job openings. The attackers contacted job seekers through social media and recruitment platforms, then used supposed technical interviews or coding tests to trick them into downloading malicious files. Authorities said the campaign infected more than 30,000 devices across over 100 countries and regions, stole data from more than 7,000 crypto wallets, and moved at least $10.71 million into wallets under the attackers’ control.
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