South Korea traces fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions worth over a billion dollars

According to official data from the South Korean government, in the first half of 2022, fraudsters made cryptocurrency transactions totaling more than $ 1 billion.

According to law enforcement officials, the rate of fraudulent transactions with digital assets from January to June 2022 exceeded the total amount of the same transfers for the entire year 2021. Obviously, South Korean attackers have become more active in earnest, so the country’s authorities have advised users to be as cautious as possible and not to use suspicious crypto platforms.

According to law enforcement officials, most crypto transactions by fraudsters are related to over-the-counter cryptocurrency trading. For example, in South Korea, the cost of BTC and altcoins on licensed exchanges is higher than in other countries, so investors often look for cryptocurrency platforms where they can buy digital assets at a lower price. Often, fraudsters are behind such exchanges.

As a reminder, in late August, the South Korean government closed access to 16 cryptocurrency exchanges and banned other crypto platforms from serving addresses associated with exchanges, which resulted in thousands of users losing access to their cryptocurrency funds. The list of foreign cryptocurrency exchanges that, according to representatives of the Financial Services Commission, do not have proper registration to operate in the country includes: KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, XT.com, Bitrue, ZB.com, Bitglobal, CoinW, CoinEX, AAX, ZoomEX, Poloniex, BTCEX, BTCC, DigiFinex, and Pionex.

According to South Korean law, people who engage in illegal business without registration face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won ($ 37,900). They may also be banned from registering a business in South Korea for a certain period of time.