South Korean Police Arrest 19 in ‘Reading Room’ Crypto Fraud Bust
South Korean police have arrested 19 people on fraud charges in a swoop on a social media “crypto reading room.”
Police think the international gang ran an “open chat room,” likely a crypto Telegram group or a KakaoTalk open chat, which pretended to offer bona fide crypto trading tips.
Instead, officers said, the gang “defrauded 308 investors” out of some $18.8 million.
Police spokespeople said some gang members posed as crypto experts in chat groups. Others pretended to be ordinary investors.
These members allegedly claimed to have made money by following tips they learned in the “reading room.”
Per Global Kyungjae Shinmun, the Daegu Police Agency’s criminal task force announced it had made the arrests on May 21.
However, the task force thinks at least six suspects are still at large. Police said these individuals are “still overseas.”
The task force said it had asked Interpol to issue red notices for all six. This would require overseas police officers to arrest the suspects on sight.
Police said the group sent out invitation links to “an open chat room,” hoping to ensnare potential victims.
This room, police added, was populated with gang members who claimed they had made “big profits” by following advice posted in the room.
Officers explained that the gang tried to convince room members to download apps connected to crypto exchanges, where they could buy and sell unlisted coins.
The group then tried to build trust by ensuring potential victims made moderate gains when they invested minimal amounts of money in these allegedly bogus platforms.
In many cases, this convinced victims to increase the value of their stakes. However, when victims tried to make withdrawals from the platforms, gang members told them to pay “withdrawal
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