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Updated December 23rd, 2021 at 14:24 IST

US & South Korea join hands to recover losses of victims in 2017 crypto phishing scam

South Korea and the United States have jointly worked on the 2017 cryptocurrency phishing scam. They have paid damages to fraud victims of the scam.

Reported by: Apoorva Kaul
South Korea
Image: AP/Unsplash | Image:self
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South Korea and the United States have agreed to jointly probe the 2017 cryptocurrency phishing scam. In addition, the authorities have also worked to help victims in recovering the losses they have faced due to the cryptocurrency phishing scam. The prosecutors in Seoul confirmed the development to the Yonhap news agency. 

The suspects were arrested after the US Federal Bureau of Investigation found some cryptocurrency which the Korean suspect had hidden in a US crypto exchange. Reportedly, the agency had frozen the amount and was able to recover the amount. The FBI had given the list of victims who were related to the seized cryptocurrency, reported Yonhap news agency. The US agency has given around 140 million to eight of the victims by the end of November and is carrying out the process to return the damages to Japanese victims. 

Two South Korean suspects arrested 

Two South Korean suspects who were behind the cyber fraud have been arrested. Their arrests were made possible after the FBI provided information to the South Korean Prosecutors office. Reportedly, the two Korean people have been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and one year in prison which has been suspended for two years, respectively. The South Korean Prosecutors office has further identified one Japanese suspect on the basis of intelligence information given by the US FBI in 2018. 

Agencies pay 140 million in restitution to victims 

So far, the two agencies have paid around 140 million in restitution to some fraud victims. The three suspects have been accused of hacking IDs and passwords from people who had visited the US-based phishing site. The US-based phishing site was disguised as a Ripple-related site for seven months from June 2017. As per the report, the site was active for seven months from June 2017 and stole 900 million won from 61 victims. The people whose money had been stolen from the phishing site included 24 people from South Korea and 37 people from Japan. The South Korean Prosecutors told Yonhap news agency that prosecution has carried out the process of investigation and recovery of losses with international cooperation. 

Image: AP

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Published December 23rd, 2021 at 13:44 IST

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