SEOUL: South Korean and US investigative agencies have collaborated to crack down on a 2017 bitcoin phishing scam and assist victims in recouping some of their losses, according to prosecutors in Seoul.

According to sources, the Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) apprehended two South Korean suspects and confirmed the identity of one Japanese suspect based on information provided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2018. The SPO and the FBI then collaborated to recover crypto assets from one of the Korean suspects, and have so far paid out approximately 140 million won (USD118,000) in reparations to some of the fraud victims.

From June 2017 to June 2018, the three suspects were accused of stealing 900 million won (equivalent to 2.35 billion won in current value) from 61 victims (24 from South Korea and 37 from Japan) By hacking IDs and passwords from visitors to a US-based phishing site disguised as a Ripple-related site. Ripple is a cryptocurrency as well as a digital payment network.

Their arrests were made feasible after the FBI handed over intelligence and data to the SPO, which then directed the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office to launch an investigation. The two Korean con artists received sentences of 2 1/2 years in prison and one year in prison with a two-year suspension, respectively.

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