ATLANTA — The FBI has seized nearly 200 laptops from dozens of homes across Texas as part of an investigation into North Korean workers posing as Americans to secure remote jobs at U.S. companies.

According to federal investigators, the devices allowed North Korean workers to access the systems of more than 70 American companies while disguising their identities.

The FBI says the scheme sent $800 million to the North Korean regime in just one year.

Federal prosecutors say some Americans involved in the operation were recruited by a middleman in Ohio and paid to provide their names and homes to support the scheme.

The latest investigation follows a similar case in Georgia. In June, federal authorities in Atlanta charged four North Koreans in connection with a remote work scheme.

An Atlanta entrepreneur previously reported hiring remote IT workers who later turned out to be North Korean agents.

“They executed what I call the big hack, close to 800 thousand,” the entrepreneur said.

He also described what happened after the incident.

“And then wiped all of their chats and all of the history that we had,” he said.

The entrepreneur estimated the incident cost him nearly $800,000.

The FBI warns that hundreds of fraudulent IT workers may still be operating inside American companies.

WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Cheryl Castro contributed to this story.