Police in Gangnam, an affluent district of Seoul, South Korea, have arrested 10 people accused of stealing money in a fake USDT OTC trade. The gang lured a victim into a street in the Yeoksam Neighborhood, offering to sell USDT tokens at a discounted price. The incident took place late at night on March 21, with the gang meeting the victim and their friends, pretending to count money and then assaulting the group before fleeing with the cash without transferring any coins. Several suspects were arrested in different locations, including Busan and Anseong, with the alleged ringleader apprehended in Cheonan.
Authorities reported that the gang had originally planned their fraudulent activity in Busan, potentially targeting other crypto traders in the area. Police seized around $37,000 in cash and a gold necklace worth approximately $4,750, which the suspects had purchased with the stolen money. The suspects have been formally charged and turned over to the prosecution service, while investigators are still searching for additional accomplices and the remaining cash. The rise in popularity of OTC crypto trading in South Korea has resulted in an increase in crime, with fake USDT OTC cases appearing in courtrooms across the country.
In a separate incident on March 13, four individuals were arrested for attempting to extort nearly $100,000 from two victims in front of a cafe in Yeoksam. The group engaged in a trade with the victims, sent USDT tokens, and then posed as police officers to demand cash from the traders, citing illegal trading of cryptoassets. When the victims refused to comply, the gang attacked them and tried to escape. As a result of these incidents, a police official issued a warning to the public to be cautious during offline crypto transactions due to a rise in criminal activities targeting crypto traders.
South Korea has seen multiple OTC crypto trading scams in recent months, including one in Incheon where suspects escaped with $747,000 in cash from a bogus OTC deal. Similar incidents were reported in Geumcheon and Icheon earlier in the year. The return of the kimchi premium in South Korea has contributed to the surge in OTC crypto trading, but has also attracted criminal elements looking to deceive and steal from unsuspecting victims. The police crackdown on these scams aims to protect traders and maintain the integrity of the growing crypto market in the country.
