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I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the in South Koreans being tricked into joining cryptocurrency money laundering scams.
South Koreans Tricked into Crypto Money Laundering Scams
A number of South Korean residents have fallen victims to a voice phishing scam where the scammers are informing crypto wallet holder that they will receive 2-3% commission fees for buying coins. This news comes from a report from the South Korean media outlet CBS NoCut News. The fraudsters are targeting South Korean crypto traders with these sophisticated scams to assist criminals in laundering their finances. The offers are being made as “part-time” crypto trading “jobs.”
The news report noted that officers are dealing with a “series of cases” which involve “voice phishing organisations” that “abuse” crypto to “launder criminal funds.” The police force in Busan, South Korea’s second city, provided an example of an unnamed man (referred to as “A”) aged in his 20s. According to officers man A arrived at a police station in Busan with a lawyer, “claiming that he had been involved in a voice phishing crime” while “working part-time.”
Man A went on to inform the police that he had responded to a “part-time work advertisement on Instagram” calling for people with crypto wallets.” The man went on to say that he responded to the post due to his curiosity. The company then told Man A that he was immediately hired before instructing him to purchase cryptocurrency on their behalf. No face-to-face interview was conducted and all work-related conversations were conducted strictly on the Telegram chat app.
Man A also noted that he was under the belief that he was working as a “cryptocurrency purchasing agent.” He noted that he was told to use his own cryptocurrency wallet to make the purchases on behalf of the company for a number of days. After that he began to suspect that something was not right as he suddenly discovered his account had been suspended.
Following the suspension Man A began to look into the matter and he discovered that he had been duped. He was of the belief that he was working for a bona fide company. He added that the person who “hired” him had shown A realistic-looking “documents.” He explained:
“At first I had no idea this firm was related to criminal activities.”
Man A said he had executed some 300 million won ($204,415) worth of trades for the company in a week. The police officials noted that the trader took money from the company and then made use off those funds to purchase crypto. The coins were then sent on to the alleged criminals’ crypto wallets. According to the police officers this was “laundered money” raised from “voice phishing schemes.”
The police officers went on to note that they will continue to look into the circumstances of the case but have pressed charges against Man A. They also stated that they have been dealing with a rising number of similar cases, which mainly appear to “target people in their 20s and 30s.” The criminals often make use of social media platforms such as Instagram and Telegram open chat rooms to recruit” victims by “posting advertisements” for “high-paying part-time jobs” and “crypto purchasing agents.”
In general the criminals offer between 2% and 3% of each trade’s worth “as a commission fee” for the "applicants" work. These groups instruct the traders to do the crypto transactions on overseas based cryptocurrency exchanges and tell the "applicants" to send coins to crypto wallets, which are also similarly “located overseas.” This process helps to make it more difficult for investigators to “trace” the flow of funds. A spokesperson from Saha Police Station in Busan explained:
“Voice phishing scams that make use of crypto have existed for a while. However, recently, we have recently seen a rise in this new type of crime. It is difficult for us to monitor funds on overseas exchanges or wallets, because their operators do not always fully cooperate with our investigations. Citizens could be prosecuted for aiding and abetting fraud in these cases, so we urge caution.”
South Korean courts have also recently sentenced three individuals for offences relating to crypto scamming. A ringleader has been given 4.5 years in jail while the others were given 3.5 years and 2.5 years respectively. Between them they had managed to steal $416k (610 million won) through a fake crypto investment firm. This operation was based in Busan, where the scammers operated as an investment company, enticing people with the promise of unusually high monthly returns. The scam operation was set up in June 2019 and was specifically targeting people who were unaware of cryptocurrency investments.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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