4 Billion KRW Stolen by Impersonating Domestic Virtual Asset Exchange... 'Smishing' Group Member Arrested

One Chinese National Arrested, Another on Interpol Red Notice
Tracking Virtual Assets Diverted from Overseas Exchanges

Overview of 'Smishing' Crime Impersonating Virtual Asset Exchanges. [Provided by the National Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] A member of an organization who hacked accounts of a major domestic virtual asset exchange using a 'smishing' method and stole virtual assets worth hundreds of millions of won has been arrested by the police.

The Cyber Investigation Bureau of the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced on the 3rd that they apprehended A, a Chinese national and domestic member of a Chinese hacking organization, and obtained an arrest warrant for another Chinese national member B, who sent phishing text messages from overseas, requesting Interpol red notice.

According to the police, from January 4 to June 24 this year, they impersonated a major domestic virtual asset exchange and distributed a large number of smishing messages such as 'overseas IP login alerts' to steal accounts, and are suspected of stealing virtual assets worth 400 million won stored in members' accounts.

Police investigations revealed that they thoroughly prepared for the account theft from the beginning. After creating a phishing site disguised as the exchange's website, they secured an SMS server necessary to send a large volume of smishing messages and conducted pre-tests to ensure the phishing site operated on domestic networks.

Phishing text messages impersonating virtual asset exchanges sent by hacking groups. [Provided by the National Police Agency]

Subsequently, they sent a large number of smishing messages through the SMS server. When the smishing message was clicked, it directed users to the pre-made phishing site, and when members entered their IDs and passwords, their accounts were stolen.

The police additionally arrested two Korean suspects who embezzled virtual assets temporarily transferred to their exchange accounts during the process of cashing out the stolen virtual assets with these individuals, and are continuing to track the overseas hacking organization that stole the virtual assets by confirming the movement of the remaining stolen virtual assets transferred to overseas exchanges.

The police urged adherence to security guidelines to prevent such smishing damage, including ▲ not clicking on internet addresses (URLs) from unverified sources ▲ strengthening smartphone security settings to prevent unauthorized installation of apps from unknown sources ▲ installing apps only through authorized markets (Google Play Store, App Store, One Store, etc.) ▲ and not entering or providing personal information when requested under the pretext of identity verification or overseas IP alerts.

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