A South Korean court has sentenced an unnamed 43-year-old man to two years and six months in prison for his participation in a $249 million crypto mining pyramid scheme. According to Yonhap Lee Sang-wook, the judge at the Incheon District Court who made the announcement, the crypto mining pyramid scheme is still under investigation. The indicted was allegedly a secretary of the illegal company from May 1 to September 23, 2017. No details were given about the magnitude of his involvement, nor the specific cryptocurrency involved in the fraud. Police said that he played an active role by sending fake …
The South Korean Justice Ministry estimates that cryptocurrency-related crimes have caused 2.69 trillion won (about $2.28 billion) of financial damage between July 2017 and June 2019. According to a July 21 report by English-language local media The Korea Herald, the ministry claimed that 132 cryptocurrency-related criminals and fraudsters had been indicted and detained, with another 288 indicted without physical detention during the aforementioned time frame. The report states that, while Justice Minister Park Sang-kim has ordered stern measures against cryptocurrency criminals, a lack of clear regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges has led to an increase in the use of quasi-anonymous or …
A cybercriminal group has allegedly stolen around $200 million from cryptocurrency exchanges over the past two years. In total, they are believed to have hit 10 - 20 victims across the United States, the Middle East, and Asia. According to research by the cybersecurity firm ClearSky, the gang named “CryptoCore,” known with other pseudonyms like “Dangerous Password” and “Leery Turtle,” has been actively targeting crypto firms since 2018 — specifically exchanges. Source: ClearSky They confirmed that CryptoCore stole $200 million from at least five victims, several of whom were located in Japan. Between 10-20 additional companies could be affected The …
Last week Cointelegraph published a story about investors having difficulty getting their money back from a crypto fund called AMFEIX, which promised high-yield profits for investors who sent them Bitcoin (BTC). Our story described more than 500 pending withdrawals from users trying to get their money back, and AMFEIX’s unsatisfactory communication with those users. The company addressed its users via its official Telegram channel after the story was published, suggesting that the withdrawal delays were due to technical difficulties that had been an issue since May. It also stated that “members who show loyalty to AMFEIX will have priority” in …
South Korean watchdog the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has urged lawmakers to hasten their approval of the country’s first cryptocurrency bill, Bloomberg reports July 26. Hong Seong-ki, head of the FSC’s virtual currency response team, has reportedly warned of the security and money laundering risks courted by the country’s domestic crypto exchanges. Bloomberg cites Seong-ki as saying that: “While crypto markets have seen rapid growth, such trading platforms don’t seem to be well-enough prepared in terms of security. We’re trying to legislate the most urgent and important things first, aiming for money-laundering prevention [AML] and investor protection. The bill should …