Inside The $1.6M Crypto Scam: 81 Arrested After Scammers Made This Mistake

Crypto scams have surrounded the industry, where scamming incidents have grown exponentially. The most recent news from South Korea uncovered a new type of investment scam. Not crypto hacks or thefts, the swindlers are now targeting people with high-yield investment scams. With that, they have allegedly scammed $1.6M from victims, but one mistake made them get caught, leading to their arrest.

South Korea is finally seeing a wave of cryptocurrency adoption, as by 2024 mid, they had reached 7.78M investors. In this, the government has also made efforts to regulate the industry and ensure a secure trading experience, whose need grew after Do Kwon’s Terra-LUNA crash. However, these scams are not just limited to there, as the number is rising worldwide.  Earlier the popular YouTuber MrBeast was accused of pump and dump scam, shocking many.

Uncovering The Bitcoin Miner Rental Business Crypto Scam

The Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency’s Metropolitan Investigation Division’s Criminal Mobile Unit has uncovered a major crypto scam associated with the Bitcoin miner rental business. As per the Hankyoreh, officials arrested a total of 81 people who played some role in running this deception. In this, nine people are charged with fraud under the Specific Economic Crimes Punishment Act and organizing a criminal organization. This also includes the organization head and the main culprit, Mr. K.

Seven have received detention, and four people, including the fake sim distributor, Mr. N, were arrested under the Telecommunications Business Act violation. The report further mentioned that 27 were indicted without detention and 33 arrested for violating privacy laws.

Here, suspect K and his organization have scammed 50 people under the pretext of big guaranteed profits. They usually offered a free trial period to win people’s trust and pooled $2,143 to $214,200 from each, collecting over $1.6M.

Within just a few months, they created a multi-level crypto scam, where their cell center and other businesses targeted people over calls. To do so, they registered 1,980 fake SIM cards under foreigners’ names at six telecommunications company agencies. They used fake phones and accounts to scam money but also leaked their victim’s personal information to other call centers at just $7 per case.

One Mistake Led To The Scam Bust

The Bitcoin miner business scam was running successfully for months until one mistake led to its downfall. Like a comedy movie scene, they got busted after the scammer unknowingly called the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency’s Mobile Criminal Investigation Unit’s detective, which put an end to their business. The scammers ran an illegal cell center with thousands of fake SIM cards and offered scamming investment advice for months.

In April 2024, the scammers unknowingly called a detective to introduce a high-yield investment option in the Bitcoin miner business. However, instead of falling or ignoring their trap, the detective followed their steps and ended up busting the whole crime. With constant communication under the pretext of investment, the South Korean police uncovered the organization and its headquarters in Incheon.

The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency spokesperson also released a statement, requesting that netizens stay aware and spot crypto scams. They requested the citizens to never trust any too-good-to-believe schemes. Besides, everyone should understand that free trials or high returns without any special efforts often lead to fraud.