South Korean Police Arrest Crypto Fraud Syndicate That Earns IDR 494 Billion

South Korean authorities managed to arrest the crypto fraud network. (Photo; Doc. SiamBlockchain)

JAKARTA - The South Korean police managed to dismantle a crypto fraud syndicate run by a gangster network through the KakaoTalk messaging application. This syndicate is suspected of having deceived 572 people in various countries and made a profit of 32 million US dollars (Rp 494.3 billion).

According to a report by Chosun Ilbo, the Busan Metropolitan Police revealed that this group consisted of nine "gangsters" operating through crypto groups "reading rooms" on the KakaoTalk platform. Officers said they had arrested eight individuals suspected of running "reading rooms" and 79 perpetrators.

South Korean authorities say the syndicate is "opening and operating" fake crypto sites online. Members of the syndicate are also actively "recruiting investors, managing bank accounts, and doing money laundering." These syndicate members are all young, including in the "millennial" age group and Gen Z.

In a series of raids across the country, officers confiscated assets, including motorized vehicles, cash, and other goods worth a total of US$1.9 million (Rp29.3 billion).

This crypto scam mode takes advantage of the popularity of crypto-themed "reading rooms" chat groups in South Korea, especially on platforms like KakaoTalk. Many of the group chats and official channels consist of real crypto traders. However, some groups seem to be the gathering places for scammers or crypto scammers to target victims.

Cryptonews reports that it also found some of these examples from the Kakao chat room where its members promote suspicious coins and trading platforms. Some promote a "investment" crypto mining program that looks inconclusive and promises unreasonable profits.

According to police, the "gangster" syndicate started its operations in February 2022, pretending to be an "investment expert." The perpetrators promised investors would "get big profits by investing in crypto, unregistered stocks, gold, and futures abroad."

They allegedly told potential victims that their investment was "secured" safe. They also allegedly said that the profits would be sent soon. The police stated that the perpetrators paid vendors on the dark web to provide data on several potential victims. These efforts are claimed to help scammers to trap victims appropriately by sending a number of text and email messages.