North Korean Hackers Try to Trick Professionals with Fake Zoom Scam

In a new and alarming scam, suspected North Korean hackers have created a fake Zoom meeting to trick professionals into giving them access to their computers.

The scam starts out looking completely normal. It begins with a message on LinkedIn from someone pretending to be a business partner. In one real case from June 2025, a hacker used the name “Valéria Pereira” and the email val.pereira.loop@gmail.com to contact a potential victim. After a short chat, they asked to continue the conversation on Telegram, a messaging app.

Once on Telegram, the hacker scheduled a meeting using the victim’s own calendar link — making it seem even more legit. Just before the meeting, they sent a link to what looked like a Zoom call. But it was a fake website: usweb08.us.

This fake site was cleverly designed to look exactly like Zoom. It had fake video windows, a chat box, and even fake participants — all just to trick the victim.

Then came the real danger. The hacker claimed there was an audio issue and sent a fake “Zoom help” page. That page told the victim to run commands in their computer’s terminal. If followed, those commands could have given the hacker full control of the victim’s device.

In this case, the victim got suspicious and refused to run the commands. They offered to switch to Google Meet instead. The hacker quickly deleted their Telegram messages and disappeared.

Experts say the scam was extremely well-planned. The fake website domain, usweb08.us, was registered in April 2025 under fake details. This type of attack matches tactics used by North Korean hacker groups like Lazarus, who are known for stealing crypto and corporate data.

Cybersecurity experts warn that scams like this are becoming more advanced and more convincing. Professionals are advised to:

• Double-check links before clicking

• Never run commands from untrusted sources

• Be cautious of last-minute changes or odd requests

• Use trusted platforms like Google Meet or Zoom directly

If something feels off, take a moment to verify. That pause could protect you from a major cyberattack.

Sharing news about these scams helps everyone stay safer. As hackers get smarter, so must we.