Project Manager Anastasia Kyrnychna told about a strange communication with a developer who had a Ukrainian name and location in Lviv, and stated that he only uses English for work. Ukrainian IT experts suggest that programmers from North Korea or scammers from other countries were behind this account.
Project Manager Anastasia Kyrnychna told about a strange communication with a developer who had a Ukrainian name and location in Lviv, and stated that he only uses English for work. Ukrainian IT experts suggest that programmers from North Korea or scammers from other countries were behind this account.
«I’m currently looking for a developer for an AI automation project. I wrote to the developer, the profile says that he’s from Lviv, with a Ukrainian name. I started communicating in Ukrainian. In response, he said English + no greeting. I ask: «Can we switch to Ukrainian?» I get: «I use mostly English for work», Kyrnychna wrote on LinkedIn.
She added that many Ukrainians are now working with foreign clients, but it is surprising that an IT professional supposedly from Ukraine was unable to maintain a dialogue in Ukrainian.
«How normal is it that Ukrainian developers basically correspond only in English? Developers, tell me, is this really a work habit or is it just „to look more global“? Are there any other reasons for such behavior?» asked Anastasia Kyrnychna.
In the comments to her post, many IT people suggested that a programmer from North Korea was hiding behind this profile. «Invite him for an interview, it won’t be Petro, but Pedro, at best. Or maybe a North Korean,» wrote one of them.
Earlier, media outlets reported that North Korea infiltrated American companies with the help of hackers posing as IT specialists looking for remote work. In this way, they managed to get about $1 million.
A few weeks ago, Ukrainian recruiter Yulia Sitnikova said that she had come across such IT workers from the DPRK.
«I posted a vacancy, and within a few hours I already had the first 25 applicants. But more than half looked strange — the pages were created a week ago, no recommendations, zero activity. The location is a European country, education is somewhere in Asia. Candidates respond quickly, take tests, everything looks perfect,» shared Sitnikova.
She said such candidates often did not turn on their cameras or turned them on so that only part of their faces was visible. She noted that North Korean programmers are often behind such fake profiles.
«As a recruiter, I feel responsible for the safety of the process.
So now I have a new test question at the interview:
„What do you think about Kim Jong-un?“ The interview ends instantly,» said Yulia Sitnikova.
In the comments to Anastasia Kyrnychna’s post, some users speculated that behind the profile of the «Ukrainian» who communicates only in English, there could be IT people from India, Vietnam, and other countries.
«If this candidate says that he speaks English only, then he is clearly not from Ukraine. Otherwise, there would definitely be no problem answering in Ukrainian. I have even had cases where some guys from the Philippines or Vietnam wrote and said, 'Come on, you will make calls to Ukrainian companies/clients for us/me, and we will do the work,'» said marketing expert Olga Onofriychuk.
