'We Mine Dormant Wallets and Give Away Bitcoin,' Beware of New Cryptocurrency Scam
As the price of Bitcoin has risen to the 90 million KRW range, the once-joking concept of a '100 million KRW Bitcoin' era is now on the horizon. With growing interest in the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market, companies suspected of promoting new cryptocurrency-related scams are becoming more prevalent.
According to the National Police Agency on the 7th, there were 281 cases of illegal activities related to virtual assets last year, more than double the number from the previous year (2022, 108 cases). Illegal activities in the virtual asset sector are broadly classified into three categories: Ponzi schemes and pyramid sales, illegal exchange activities, and other fraudulent purchasing schemes. However, new types of crimes continue to emerge.
Recently, there have been cases where companies encourage investments by claiming that if you invest in a business mining Bitcoin from a large dormant wallet, you will receive a share of the Bitcoin. This has particularly spread among the elderly, with some individuals investing amounts ranging from 10 million KRW to tens of millions of KRW.
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Hyeonsu “Elliot” Jin, Managing partner at Decent Law Firm, advised, "Even if they promise to distribute profits from successful Bitcoin mining, investors have no way to verify whether the Bitcoin mining has actually succeeded. If someone is promoting coin investment by showcasing large profits, you should first suspect it might be an investment scam. If you suspect an investment scam, seek help from a lawyer specializing in cryptocurrency fraud and file a criminal complaint or a lawsuit for the return of your investment."
