Scammers are targeting crypto users in South Korea with an Ethereum-themed scam, the country's token holders announced on May 21.
According to South Korean media outlet Asia Time, scammers have sent warning text messages to smartphone users, warning that if they don't act quickly, their ETH coins will be “burned” on May 22.
Ethereum-themed virtual currency scam “originated from a fake exchange”
The scam comes as police and regulators report that “cybercrime related to virtual assets” is “on the rise.”
Members of the crypto community gathered in an online meeting place to warn other token holders of a “phishing text message” going around. One post warned:
“Please be careful as it is easy to be deceived.”
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— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) May 20, 2024
Some warn that scammers are using technology that allows messages to bypass spam filters.
Some of the text messages claim to come from a “global cryptocurrency exchange” named Bit-Finance.
The message warns that due to token holders' “long-term inactivity,” their Ethereum holdings will be “incinerated on May 22nd.”
The message tells crypto holders that they should “make withdrawals as soon as possible” to avoid loss of funds.
Recipients will be asked to click on a link that will help them understand the process and protect their funds.
Warnings posted by community members
One of the community members posted a screenshot showing that a total of 54.5 ETH in funds is claimed to be burned if senders do not take action.
The enclosed link appears to direct smartphone users to a phishing site, where the scammers attempt to ask them to enter their wallet details and passwords.
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The same media pointed out that in South Korea, “cyber fraud using real virtual assets is increasing.''
Last year, the National Police Agency announced that it handled 167,688 cases of cyber fraud. This is an increase of 7.68% over the 2022 figure.
The National Police Agency explained that “crimes using crypto assets'' accounted for 38.3% of all crimes in 2023.
Additionally, citizens submitted a total of 2,209 reports to the Financial Supervisory Service, the regulatory authority, between January and April of this year.
In both cases, the victims claimed that they suffered financial losses due to crypto fraudsters.
The regulator said 17.7% of these cases were related to phishing attacks. The company previously claimed that cryptocurrency-themed phishing is “rampant” in South Korea.
Police vow to 'fight back'
Police experts said the increase in attacks was an “opportunistic” move by fraudsters amid a boom in the cryptocurrency market.
In recent months, the South Korean market has been revitalized as many exchanges have started offering commission-free cryptocurrency trading.
Experts agree that this has led to an increase in transaction volumes and subsequently an increase in phishing attacks.
An official from the National Police Agency's Cyber Investigation Division said that the use of so-called “cryptocurrency” by virtual currency criminals is increasing.Oura phone. “
This term refers to mobile phone numbers created using stolen name and Social Security number credentials. An official said:
“Recently, fraud techniques have become more sophisticated. Crypto-asset-related crimes using chat apps such as Depophone, KakaoTalk, and Telegram are on the rise. But we are fighting back. We use research methods to track
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— Korea Times (@koreatimescokr) April 21, 2024
Last month, South Korean media reported that phishing attackers are now carefully targeting credit card users and victims of cryptocurrency fraud.
Typically, these attackers try to lure victims to fake cryptocurrency exchanges or wallet platforms.
