Two individuals in their 20s and 30s have been apprehended by South Korean police for swindling a senior citizen out of 5.5 billion South Korean won ($4.1 million) by promising lucrative cryptocurrency investments. The Haeundae Police Station in Busan, South Korea, detained the fraudsters after they deceived the victim through multiple transactions.
According to a local report, the scammers enticed the victim with the prospect of high returns on cryptocurrency investments from September to December 2022. They guaranteed a monthly investment of 1 billion won with a 70% profit. The police quoted the fraudsters as saying:
The victim fell for the scam and sent a total of 5.5 billion won through six different transactions to the fraudsters. In order to provide false evidence of investments, the scammers fabricated balance certificates. During the course of the fraud, the victim was shown counterfeit balance sheets of crypto investments and real estate contracts.
South Korean police revealed that the fake balance sheet displayed 20 billion won worth of cryptocurrencies, despite none of the victim’s funds making it to the crypto trading account.
Although the police successfully detained the fraudsters, information regarding the recovery of the stolen funds has not been disclosed to the public.
In other news, Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs and a well-known figure in the South Korean crypto industry, was reportedly released from prison in Montenegro on March 23. This comes amidst extradition requests from the United States and South Korea. Kwon is currently facing legal charges related to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022. Prison director Darko Vukcevic confirmed the news by phone, stating:
The decision to release Kwon allegedly came from the Council of the Supreme Court, which is reviewing whether to grant or deny his extradition to South Korea.
In conclusion, it is important for individuals to be cautious when investing in memecoins on the Solana network, as there are several risks associated with such investments.