South Korean prosecutors indicted 130 people related to cryptocurrency fraud and spotlighted rising crime risks in the digital asset market.
South Korean prosecutors laid charges against 130 crypto scammers, with some of them connected to violent criminal organizations.
According to a report by The Chosun Daily, the indicted individuals were involved in a cryptocurrency fraud that stole 10.1 billion Korean won, worth roughly $6.9 million, from 254 victims.
38 of the scammers were arrested and charged with forming and taking part in a criminal group. The remaining 92 fraudsters were indicted without being arrested on charges of fraud and violations of the law on recovering losses from telecom fraud, the report added.
Moreover, prosecutors say the scammers ran seven call centers in the metropolitan area from June 2023 to April this year, lured victims into fake investment schemes, and tricked people into investing in crypto.
According to the report, eight of the individuals were linked to four larger criminal organizations, including the Ganseok Sigupaw.
So far, prosecutors have frozen 1.2 billion won, and hinted at “continuing to track and preserve assets hidden by the suspects in cooperation with the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency,” related to the scam.
Crypto Lost $3.4B in 2025
The latest story from South Korea is just a small addition to the massive crypto hacks and scams in 2025.
According to a Chainalysis report, fraudulent actors stole more than $3.4 billion in crypto assets in 2025, led by Bybit’s $1.5 billion hack in February.
North Korean hackers lead the chart with a record $2.02 billion crypto theft over the past 12 months, the report revealed.
Most recently, the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged seven organizations for stealing $14 million from retail investors. Coinspeaker reported that some of these companies lured investors with deepfake videos of leading financial figures.
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