Key Insights
- Crypto traders in South Korea are exposed to sophisticated scams used to launder money for criminal groups.
- The scammers disguise themselves as legitimate companies by posting job ads on social media.
- The scam is a distinct strain of phishing scams that remain a significant challenge in cybersecurity.
South Korean crypto traders are lured into sophisticated scams facilitating money laundering for illicit groups.
A South Korean News Outlet, Nocutnews, reported that bad actors use Voice phishing organizations to target Crypto traders in South Korea and launder criminal funds.
Read More: Losses to Crypto Scams and Exploits Drop to $28.8 million in March
According to Nocutnews, a man reported to the Police station in Busan with his lawyer, claiming he was involved in a voice phishing crime while working part-time.
“I saw an advertisement on Instagram saying, ‘People with a specific cryptocurrency account can work part-time,’ so I contacted him out of curiosity.” The man said.
The company in question immediately instructed him to work on purchasing cryptocurrency. The onboarding process did not involve a face-to-face interview. All work-related conversations were carried out on Telegram.
The man told the police, “I worked part-time as a cryptocurrency purchasing agent for a few days, but my account was suddenly suspended, so I was surprised and looked into it, and it seemed a bit strange.” He also emphasized that it was a legitimate company and showed me related documents, so at first I had no idea it was related to a crime.” The Victim Explained.
During his short stint, the man traded about $222,000 weekly. This turned out to be a money laundering process benefitting criminal groups. The Butan Police officers filed a case against the man and are investigating the entire process.
How the Scam Works
Butan police explained how the new strain of scam works and the specific class of people targeted. The police explained that voice phishing organizations were recruiting would-be victims, primarily people with cryptocurrency accounts.
The Job advert promises part-time jobs as purchasing agents, such as a “high-paying part-time job” and a “virtual currency purchasing agent” on Instagram and Telegram. Unsuspecting victims apply for the roles, while the bad actors confirm they have an account connected to a cryptocurrency exchange.
The scammers posing as legitimate companies direct the victims to deposit money, promising a 2% to 3% commission. Afterwards, they exchange the money through an overseas exchange and send it to an overseas e-wallet address.
The process converts money obtained from the Voice phishing schemes into overseas accounts, laundering the money. The above scam is a distinct strain of phishing scams that remain a significant challenge in cybersecurity.
CertiK’s annual Web3 security report indicates that phishing attacks were the most costly attack vector, netting attackers over $1 billion across 296 incidents in 2024.
Cyver’s Security noted that the crypto industry lost $3.6 billion in 2024, with phishing (particularly pig butchering scams) taking the lead.
Phishing is a cyberattack where attackers trick individuals into providing sensitive information like passwords, private keys, or financial details by pretending to be a trustworthy entity.
