$18.9 Million in Voice-Phishing Funds Refunded Through South Korean Crypto Exchanges

A significant victory in the fight against voice-phishing has been achieved in South Korea. Authorities have successfully refunded around $18.9 million to roughly 1,100 victims who were scammed using cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit spent three years tracing the frozen funds, identifying victims, and completing the refund process. They tracked the flow of funds through over 1,000 frozen crypto accounts and more than 160,000 bank accounts to identify the victims.

However, about $2.2 million was unable to be returned to victims in cases where the crypto account freeze period expired. The law currently caps freezes on crypto accounts used in crimes at six months. Police are investigating 130 holders of related accounts on suspicion of violating the law on the regulation of concealment of criminal proceeds.