Police Crack Down on 62 Cryptocurrency Crime Cases and 187 Suspects in 3 Months... Damage Amounting to 4.1615 Trillion Won

Announcement of Interim Results of Intensive Crackdown
250 Billion KRW Seized and Preserved for Confiscation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The National Police Agency announced on the 10th that it has conducted intensive crackdowns on cryptocurrency-related fraudulent fundraising and hacking since March this year, resulting in the arrest of a total of 62 cases and 187 individuals.

First, regarding cryptocurrency-related fraudulent fundraising activities, 60 cases involving 183 individuals were cracked down from April 16 to the 1st of this month. By detailed type, there were 48 cases of fraudulent fundraising and illegal multi-level marketing scams disguised as cryptocurrency, 5 cases of illegal acts such as embezzlement at cryptocurrency exchanges, and 7 other fraud cases.

Additionally, for crimes involving information and communication network intrusions such as cryptocurrency theft, 2 cases involving 4 individuals were arrested from March 1 to the end of last month, and investigations are ongoing for 45 cases.

The number of cryptocurrency-related crackdowns by the police increased more than sevenfold from 41 cases (126 arrests) in 2017 to 333 cases (560 arrests) last year. The annual damage amount also surged significantly from an average of 403.5 billion KRW between 2017 and 2020 to 4.1615 trillion KRW from January to May this year alone. This reflects incidents such as the 'V Global' case, which involved 60,000 victims and damages amounting to 3.85 trillion KRW. A police official explained, "The occurrence of large-scale cryptocurrency fraudulent fundraising cases this year caused a sharp increase in the damage amount."

In response to the ongoing damages caused by illegal acts related to cryptocurrency, the police have formed a 'Task Force (TF) for Eradicating Illegal Activities in Virtual Assets,' involving departments such as investigation, cyber investigation, and public relations, and are implementing comprehensive measures.

Furthermore, to recover damages and prevent recidivism, the police have actively pursued pre-prosecution seizure and confiscation of criminal proceeds, preserving over 250.6 billion KRW in criminal proceeds this year alone.

The police urged investors and participants to be cautious of scams and fraudulent fundraising related to cryptocurrency, such as promises of returns exceeding the principal when investing in virtual asset exchanges and coins, provision of worthless coins in exchange for funds, and investment scams disguised as listings of self-developed coins. They especially emphasized the need for special caution as unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges face closure and withdrawal blocks by September under the revised 'Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information,' which came into effect in March this year.

A National Police Agency official stated, "Through organic cooperation with related organizations, we will strictly respond to various illegal activities related to virtual assets and continuously strive to recover damages and protect victims."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.