South Korea sentences crypto operators in USDT scam

South Korean authorities imprisoned two fraudsters for laundering $1 million in USDT from a voice phishing operation.

The leader was sentenced to five years in prison, while his employee was sentenced to two years and eight months.

The 41-year-old leader, along with his employee, operated an illegal crypto exchange. They laundered $1 million using Tether’s USDT to support a voice phishing group.

Funds vanished within an hour

South Korean prosecutors stated the criminals used Telegram to contact the exchange chief for three months.

The criminals pretended to be police officers or relatives to trick victims into sending money to accounts managed by the illegal exchange. The exchange received the money from local banks after the victims sent funds to these accounts.

Then the employees converted the deposited fiat currency for USDT. The funds moved fast from cheques, to cash deposited to the sketchy exchange, and finally to Tether coins.

A prosecutor said that regulators and banks could not freeze victims’ accounts. There was not enough time to recover the funds after the victims reported the scams to the police.

Other prosecutors informed the court that the voice phishing operation was located abroad, but they did not reveal the exact location. They told the court the process was so fast that the money disappeared within one hour.

Presiding Judge Lee Young-cheol said the court considered that the defendants did not try to repair the victims’ severe harm, reported Yeongnam Ilbo.

The judge described the crimes as heinous and said the defendants made it nearly impossible to recover the lost money.

The leader and his employee are facing charges under the Special Act on the Prevention of Damage and Refund of Damage from Telecommunications Financial Fraud. 

South Korean officials said they could not determine the number of victims who lost money to the voice phishing fraud.

South Korean officials warn of rising stablecoin fraud

The adoption of cryptocurrencies is accelerating in South Korea, but criminals are increasingly using them to scam people, too. Regulators reported a 54% increase in suspicious crypto transactions last year compared to the previous year.

South Korean ministers are urging quick government action to prevent criminals from exploiting stablecoins like USDT and USDC. In September, lawmaker Jin Sung-joon said stablecoins are increasingly likely to be misused in foreign exchange crimes like illegal currency exchange.

“We need a coordinated, proactive strategy encompassing law enforcement authorities such as KoFIU and the Korea Customs Service, in tracking, identifying and prosecuting criminal funds,” said the lawmaker. 

He added, “More policy measures should be outlined to prevent illegal, unauthorized remittances and tackle financial crimes involving crypto assets.”

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