"Promised Interest"… Gang Arrested for Stealing 800 Million Won in Virtual Assets

Withdrawal Rights Stolen by Hacking Victims' Wallets
Developer Arrested Through Joint Investigation with Vietnam

A criminal organization that deceived victims by promising high interest rates in exchange for depositing virtual assets, and then secretly obtained withdrawal rights to their virtual asset wallets, has been apprehended by the police after stealing 800 million won worth of Tether (USDT).

The Gangbuk Police Station in Seoul announced on March 4 that it had arrested seven members of the organization on charges including violations of the Information and Communications Network Act and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Among them, six individuals, including the ringleader in his 40s identified as Mr. A, have been detained.

Seoul Gangbuk Police Station exterior. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the police, Mr. A and his accomplices are suspected of randomly calling an unspecified number of people to lure them into accessing phishing sites. They then tricked the victims into connecting their virtual asset wallets by claiming that they would receive high interest rates if they deposited virtual assets, and subsequently siphoned off the assets.

The phishing sites were designed so that, during the process of connecting their wallets, victims would unknowingly transfer 'smart contract' permissions that enabled unrestricted withdrawal of assets. Mr. A and his group reportedly stole the victims' coins using this method. To further reassure the victims, they meticulously transferred interest payments daily for one month. As soon as the victims deposited approximately 800 million won worth of Tether into their wallets, the group immediately withdrew the entire amount and laundered the funds into cash through domestic and overseas currency exchangers.

The police apprehended the organization members one by one over the course of a nine-month investigation. In particular, with cooperation from an officer stationed in Vietnam, local members were arrested, and even the developer who created and supplied the tools for the crime was tracked down and detained.

A police official cautioned, "If you are induced to connect your wallet to unverified sites by promises of high interest rates, you should suspect a scam and exercise caution."

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