Two individuals in their 20s and 30s have been apprehended by South Korean police for swindling a senior citizen out of 5.5 billion South Korean won ($4.1 million) by enticing them with promises of lucrative cryptocurrency investments. The Haeundae Police Station in Busan detained the fraudsters after discovering that the victim had been deceived through multiple transactions.
According to local reports, the scammers convinced the senior citizen that they would receive significant returns on their cryptocurrency investments between September and December of 2022. The fraudsters guaranteed a monthly profit of 70% on a 1 billion won investment. The police quoted the criminals as saying:
“We will make sure your investments yield substantial profits.”
In total, the victim transferred 5.5 billion won to the scammers through six separate transactions. The fraudsters then created counterfeit balance certificates as evidence of the investments. During the scam, the victim was presented with fake balance sheets of cryptocurrency investments and real estate contracts.
South Korean authorities revealed that the counterfeit balance sheet showed holdings of cryptocurrencies worth 20 billion won, despite none of the victim’s funds reaching the crypto trading account.
Although the police successfully apprehended the fraudsters, information regarding the recovery of the stolen funds has not been disclosed to the public.
In related news, Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, a well-known crypto entrepreneur in South Korea, was reportedly released from prison in Montenegro on March 23. This release comes amidst extradition requests from both the United States and South Korea. Kwon is currently facing legal charges for the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022. Prison director Darko Vukcevic confirmed the news over the phone, stating:
“The decision to release Kwon was made by the Council of the Supreme Court, which is currently reviewing the extradition request from his home country, South Korea.”
Additionally, a magazine has highlighted the risks associated with investing in Solana memecoins, identifying five potential dangers that investors should be cautious of when entering this market.