What could be more dangerous🚫!!

South Korean Crypto Exchanges !! Is that Shocking !!

Crypto exchanges in South Korea claim to have stopped over $82 million worth of transactions connected to romance scams in the previous year.

According to Seoul Shinmun, catfishing and other cryptocurrency-based romance scams are now "rampant" in South Korea, according to Coinone, a cryptocurrency exchange. Coinone announced that trades tied to romance scams totaling over $2.6 million had been stopped. The company claimed that in order to safeguard clients, it employed a "24-hour monitoring" network and a "abnormal transaction detection system."

The notice was made a few days after the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a warning.

The FSS said on January 22 that frauds involving cryptocurrency were becoming more common on social media platforms. The public was warned by the regulator to be wary of romance fraudsters. The risks of uninvited "recommendations and advice" pertaining to investments were also cautioned against by the FSS.

The public should be "particularly" cautious of "people of the opposite gender or strangers who say they will help with investment," the agency added.

"Romance" is the Masterminds of Crypto Scams' Bait

According to the FSS, "romance scammers" are frequently "affiliated" with phony or "illegal" cryptocurrency exchanges.

A client in his 60s who was "deceived by a romance scam group" and "almost surrendered all of his crypto holdings" was the example provided by Coinone. The individual tried to transfer his funds to a private wallet, according to the exchange. The man believed the wallet belonged to the Japanese woman who owned a hair shop.

The man had just downloaded a "Japanese chat app" and a Japanese-Korean translation program on his phone, according to the exchange's employees. Additionally, the wallet's name did not match the man's entry in his transaction request, which the business discovered.

Coinone gave the individual a call to get further information on the deal. Workers discovered the man's new "friend" in South Korea had requested that he deposit Bitcoin to a "crypto exchange" before traveling to "visit" him. When the "exchange" proved to be fraudulent, Coinone informed the individual that he was probably the victim of a romantic scam.

According to other South Korean exchanges, they have also started to monitor transactions continuously in order to prevent erroneous withdrawal requests. Also, they are compiling databases of alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency exchanges. Additionally, they have started collaborating with authorities to identify and report fraudulent trading platforms.

Increase in Crypto-Powered Romance Scams in South Korea

The FSS noted in its alert that con artists frequently impersonate securities companies and tax authorities and "request payment" in cryptocurrency.

It is said that criminals threaten potential victims. They claim that if victims do not submit coins or money, their bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets would be blocked. Dating apps are being used by organized gangs of East Asian cryptocurrency fraudsters to find victims.

Japanese authorities issued a warning in 2022 over a dramatic increase in fraud cases employing "international dating" websites. The public has been warned by South Korean authorities to avoid individuals on dating services who try to persuade them to invest in cryptocurrency mining ventures online.

A South Korean lady who was found guilty of drugging a guy she had met online was also imprisoned for five years in 2022. After discovering that the guy was an investor in cryptocurrencies, the lady stole tokens valued at $87,000 from him.