South Korean Police Uncover Country's Largest Cryptocurrency Scam, YouTuber with 620,000 Subscribers as the Mastermind

BlockBeats News, November 13th. According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean police have cracked a major fraud case. The main suspect is a YouTuber with 620,000 subscribers, who deceived over 15,000 investors to participate in cryptocurrency trading by falsely promoting high returns, involving a total amount of $213 million. Currently, the police have arrested 12 suspects and applied for the seizure of 22 bitcoins.

Reportedly, YouTuber Mr. A, with 620,000 subscribers, is suspected of receiving 325.6 billion Korean won from 15,304 individuals in the name of investment funds through the sale and issuance of 28 types of virtual assets from December 2021 to March of last year. The police explained that this is the largest token investment fraud case in history.

In addition, Mr. A established a separate holding company that owns six quasi-investment advisory companies and ten sales companies, with responsibilities including general and intermediate management, token issuance, market manipulation, DB supply, token sales, and money laundering.

They then randomly called over 9 million phone numbers obtained through YouTube lectures and advertisements, with scam scripts such as "20 times the original amount," "an opportunity to change your destiny," and "even if you have to sell everything, buy the coin."

It was found that among the 28 currencies they sold, six were independently issued, and then listed on overseas trading platforms through brokers. It was later discovered that they artificially inflated the prices through self-purchasing and then sold them to investors.