In short
- A hack syndicate is said to have stolen $ 28.1 million (₩ 39 billion) from financial and crypto accounts of 258 rich Koreans, including celebrities and top company leaders.
- The biggest theft of a few crypto reached $ 15.4 million (₩ 21.3 billion), although the authorities did not specify which part of the total losses was in crypto.
- The case exposes systematic vulnerabilities in the digital infrastructure of Korea, since international criminal organizations are increasingly focusing on the elite of the country, Decrypt was told.
The Seoul police have dismantled an international hacking that was systematically aimed at the richest individuals of South Korea, including BTS member Jungkook and top company leaders, after the group had stolen $ 28.1 million (₩ 39 billion) of the financial and crypto accounts of victims.
The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced the arrest of 16 suspects on Thursday, including two Chinese leaders who have orchestrated the regulation between July 2023 and April 2024 of Bases in China and Thailand, according to Korea Joongang Daily.
“This incident emphasizes a critical reality: international criminal organizations focus systematically on Korean entities, and most domestic institutions lack sufficient defenses against their advanced hacking capacities,” said Rich O., regional manager APAC at Hardware Wallet manufacturer Oneeyy, said Decrypt.
According to the police, the criminal organization has violated the websites of the government and financial institution to steal personal data from rich purposes, then used this information to make more than 100 fraudulent telephone accounts that have circumvented security systems and made unauthorized access to the bank of victims and crypto wallets possible.
While they harvested data from 258 high-profile individuals, including 28 crypto-investors, 75 managers, 12 celebrities and 6 athletes, actual theft attempts were reportedly done against only 26 people whose combined account balance $ 39.8 billion).
Among them, the hackers reportedly stolen from 16 victims, with the largest single crypto -theft of $ 15.4 million (₩ 21.3 billion).
Financial institutions blocked an extra $ 18 million (₩ 25 billion) in attempted thefts aimed at 10 other victims, which prevented further losses.
Crypto holders “Prime goals”
Crypto holders have become “prime goals”, but only one segment of the rich individuals who chase Hackers, said O.
He said that the case marks “a new level of hacking threat” because of the “systematic hacking of government and financial institutions to profile rich individuals.”
In the case of Jungkook, attackers reportedly tried to dispose of $ 6.1 million (₩ 8.4 billion) in Hybe Entertainment Stock Holdings in January after his military employment.
Bank systems, however, marked the unusual activity and his management company intervened and blocked the unauthorized transfers.
Authorities freeze successfully and have returned $ 9.2 million (₩ 12.8 billion) to victims due to rapid reaction measures.
The two alleged leaders were arrested in Bangkok with the help of Interpol. One of the accused has been extradited to Korea to face 11 charges, including network and economic crimes.
“This incident of circumventing the non-face-to-face authentication system is’ unprecedented ‘, and the huge amounts visited’ could easily have leaded to an even greater crime,” Oh Gyu-Sik, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s 2nd Cyber Investigation Unit, said.
“Given the repeated breaches of Korean government agencies and telecom carriers, a multi -layered defense strategy is essential,” O.
He called for “stricter identity verification” for telecom services and “robust international law enforcement coordination” to combat cross -border cyber crime activities since “this involved Chinese criminal organizations”.
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