WASHINGTON (NYP) — A Cambodia-based gang with ties to North Korea has “stolen” billions of dollars from Americans through romance scams and other cyber-heists since August 2021, federal officials said Thursday in announcing a crackdown on the malign network.
For years, the online marketplace Huione Group has helped North Korea and other transnational criminal gangs rip people off by sending texts or direct messages on social media platforms and sites to bilk them for fake investments or “pig butchering.”
The cons, which also take place on dating or professional networking sites, have gotten US retirees and others to invest in crypto or other virtual currencies — before eventually defrauding them.
A North Korea-linked group has “stolen” billions of dollars from Americans through romance scams and other cyber-heists since August 2021, the feds say. (Photo by AP)
Between August 2021 and January 2025, Huione raked in at least $4 billion in proceeds from the romance and investment racket, with affiliates helping facilitate payments (Huione Pay PLC), provide fiat currencies (Huione Crypto), and furnish an online marketplace with illicit goods and services (Haowang Guarantee).
The US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) shared the findings of its investigation into the Huione’s scam network in a press release obtained exclusively by The Post, tallying up $37 million that went toward North Korean cyber-heists and another $336 million in the romance and investments grift.
Now, the Treasury is taking action by proposing a federal rule to sever the Cambodian firm’s access to the US financial system.
The Treasury is taking action by proposing a federal rule Thursday to sever the Cambodian firm’s access to the U.S. financial system. (Google Maps)
“Huione Group has established itself as the marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors like the DPRK [North Korea] and criminal syndicates, who have stolen billions of dollars from everyday Americans,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement
“Today’s proposed action will sever Huione Group’s access to correspondent banking, degrading these groups’ ability to launder their ill-gotten gains. Treasury remains committed to disrupting any attempt by malicious cyber actors to secure revenue from or for their criminal schemes.”
Beth Hyland, 53, told The Post in a phone interview Thursday that she had been the victim of a Tinder scammer in 2024 who kept “manipulating me and gaslighting” her until she forked over $26,000 through bitcoin ATMs.
Huione Group has established itself as the marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors … who have stolen billions of dollars from everyday Americans,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. (Photo by: AP)
“We started chatting and hit it off right away. We were going to meet. He said he was a freelance manager for a construction company,” Hyland recalled, explaining how the Nigeria-based con artist kept claiming he was locked out of his bank accounts and was hard up for funds to pay his workers.
“We were in love,” the Portage, Mich., resident said. “I thought he was going to move near me and we were going to get a house. … We talked about getting married.”
“I took out loans and he told me to use bitcoin ATMs to send him the money to pay for his translator,” she went on, recalling the swindler said he was based in Fort Wayne, Ind., and trying to pay out around $5 million to his employees and promised another $5 million for the both of them.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and other lawmakers in March introduced the Romance Scam Prevention Act to require dating apps and other sites to send fraud ban notifications to users who have interacted with similar scam artists. (Photo by: Associated Press)
At one point, he also “claimed he was headed to Qatar for the payout,” she noted. “He gave me the email and the login for his bank account. He gave me some fake login credentials and I was able to make this transfer.”
“He was in Nigeria the whole time, probably in some office building scamming me,” she added, saying the fraudster “still tried to come back” and woo her after she went so far as to consider taking money out of her retirement fund before getting set straight by a personal finance adviser.
“I couldn’t believe it, because my heart was so involved,” Hyland recounted. “And it would have been another $50,000 had I kept going.”
It took just five days to transfer the thousands of dollars Hyland cashed out through loans and turned into cryptocurrency by depositing $100 bills into bitcoin ATMs.
“After it ended, I said, ‘I’m not going to let this destroy me,’” she also said, sharing that she would “live my life and advocate.”
“I’m writing a book that will have all the text messages that I had — so people can see the ‘love bombing,’” she teased.
“They focus on you, they tell you how wonderful they are — all kinds of manipulation — and it feels so real.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and other lawmakers introduced the Romance Scam Prevention Act last month to require dating apps and other sites to send fraud ban notifications to users who have interacted with similar scam artists.
Huione’s designation was made under Section 311 of the PATRIOT Act, which lets FinCEN crack down on entities engaged in money laundering or terror financing.
The group had lacked effective know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering policies, per Treasury officials, and had failed to identify direct transfers from a North Korean scam to one of its subsidiaries.
By JOSH CHRISTENSON/New York Post
