U.S. and Korean Security Operatives Reimburse $114,000 to 2017 Crypto Scam Victims https://ift.tt/3ekFnLx

South Korean prosecutors today noted that investigators from the country and the United States have cracked down on perpetrators of a 2017 cryptocurrency phishing scam.

According to a report by the Korean Herald, the collaborative effort was between Korea’s Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which helped the victims to recover some of their losses.

Following intelligence from the FBI, the SPO swung into action in 2018, resulting in the arrest of two South Korean suspects, while further investigation led to the identification of another Japanese man involved in the crypto heist.

The Charges

The trio was accused of stealing login usernames and passwords to a Ripple phishing site between June 2017 and 2018. Out of the 61 victims that had their details stolen, 24 were from South Korea while 37 are from Japan.

The stolen credentials were used to steal over 900 million won ($758,341) in cryptocurrencies from the victims’ respective accounts at the time, which is currently worth 2.4 billion won ($2 million) at press time.

Notably, the suspects were later apprehended by law enforcement agents from the SPO and convicted of a two-and-a-half years jail term.

Security Operatives Recoup Victims’ Losses

In March 2019, the FBI traced some of the stolen funds to an undisclosed U.S.-based exchange, and the security outfit confiscated the cryptocurrencies.

As part of efforts to return the seized funds to its rightful owners, the FBI compiled a list of 10 of the Korean victims believed to be related to the confiscated assets and sent the list to the SPO.

So far, the SPO has reimbursed 140 million won ($117,964) to eight of the victims, while the FBI is making moves to pay some of the funds to the Japanese victims.

A spokesperson from the SPO noted how difficult it can be to investigate cryptocurrency-related scams due to the anonymous nature of the asset class.

“This is the first time that the prosecution has successfully carried out the whole process of investigation and damage recovery through international cooperation,” the spokesperson added.