South Korean police and the FBI have collaborated to destroy an XRP, international phishing XRP . XRP, the digital token offered by Ripple, has been involved in a scam in South Korea and Japan.
The two people who ran the scam would have been able to steal more than $ 800,000 of XRP from "dozens" of the victims "in both countries.
The perpetrators were brought to justice by a & # 39, joint operation between the computer crime division of the Seoul police and the FBI One of the arrested is a computer programmer, while the other is the employer of that person.
The programmer is a 42-year-old officer who appears to be the "muscle" of the operation. The programmer was hired to replicate a Ripple exchange website, driven by the mind of the operation – the programmer's employer. [19659006] Scammers have created a fake crypto exchange website that replicates the real site
The next step in the phishing scam was to impersonate the e-mail account of the real exchange. -mail to the ute from the e-mail account, claiming that their funds had been frozen. Users panicked, would click on the link in the e-mail, enter the account information and realize that they have been scammed.
In total, 24 Korean investors and 37 Japanese investors were persuaded to enter their login information in the false online form. Attackers have registered this login information, so they used the information to access the real cryptographic exchange website and steal user funds.
The only people targeted during this attack were investors in South Korea and Japan. However, the FBI was involved in December 2017 because Ripple – which has issued XRP and continues to be the world's largest XRP holder – is an American company.
South Korean local media report that the principal scammer transferred the stolen XRP to Korean won. He then went crazy shopping, exploiting the illicit gains to buy five-star accommodation in a luxury apartment complex along with other high-end items and services. Although the scammer has been arrested, he says that the funds have all gone and can not be returned.
The mind of the operation, meanwhile, has an interesting history of origin: the mind has been motivated to launch its phishing operation after falling victim to a scam in 2014. It has lost all its investments. Although he reported the case to the authorities, the perpetrators were never captured and the mind never recovered its funds. This led to launching his phishing scheme.
A Japanese cryptocurrency exchange was also involved in the phishing attack
The Korean local media report that there were three people involved in the scam, including the programmer, the mind and a third individual – a employed in a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange.
Reportedly, the employee provided the two authors with user data, including e-mail accounts and 2FA status. This information helped the two identify their goals.
This Japanese accomplice is still at liberty and is believed to be in Japan.
Victims of fraud are unlikely to be compensated
This story is making headlines throughout South Korea because it is the country's first cryptocurrency phishing case.
However, the case should not lead to a positive result for those who have lost funds. Firstly, the scammer claims that the $ 800,000 has been spent and that he can not return the money because he has not got any more.
Second, the South Korean police can not legally block or confiscate the other assets of the fraudster due to the nature of the crime. Since cryptocurrencies are not considered of legal value under South Korean law, it is unlikely that the victims of the fraud will be compensated.
Ultimately, as the cryptocurrency becomes more and more widespread, stories like this are unavoidable. Thanks to law enforcement authorities in Korea, however, the scam was halted before more than a few dozen people lost money.
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