Crypto Phishing Attacks ‘Rampant’ in South Korea – Report
Crypto-related phishing attacks have become “rampant” in South Korea, a report has claimed, with a top financial regulator set to act.
Per Namdo Ilbo, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will team up with the nation’s biggest crypto exchanges to create promotional materials. The regulator wants to boost public awareness of common crypto scams.
On April 29, the FSS announced plans to publish a “casebook” of case studies and “tips.” The regular said it hopes this will help citizens identify and avoid crypto-related fraud.
The FSS said that the casebook contained an analysis of 2,209 reports of crypto-related phishing attacks logged from January to April.
The regulator said that the reports had been processed by the nation’s Virtual Asset-related Investment Fraud Reporting Center.
The data shows that chat app-based crypto “reading rooms” have become a hotbed of crypto phishing schemes.
Almost 27 of all the 2,209 reports originated from these open channels, ostensibly set up as knowledge-sharing resources for South Korean crypto enthusiasts.
Police have shut down multiple rings operating “reading rooms”-type scams in recent years.
Some 19% of the cases, meanwhile, were related to “unregistered” or bogus crypto exchanges.
The regulator explained that it had identified seven overarching themes in the most recent phishing report, namely:
South Korea is at the heart of the global cryptocurrency resurgence, and one exchange dominates the local market https://t.co/CS4c7Z9moU
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) April 30, 2024
The regulator’s case studies include the story of a citizen who received an Instagram direct message from an individual claiming to be a pilot based in the United States.
After developing a “romantic relationship,” the
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