Malicious App Installed, But Coins Withdrawn?...Police and Exchanges Cooperate to Prevent Phishing

Malicious App Installed, But Coins Withdrawn?...Police and Exchanges Cooperate to Prevent Phishing

Police provide 3,800 suspected malicious app damage records...Exchanges share unusual transaction information

Mr. Lee (32) was deceived by a financial fraudster on the 23rd of last month due to a 'malicious app' installed on his mobile phone, purchasing virtual assets worth 150 million won and attempting to transfer them, but avoided damage due to the persuasion of the police who received information from the exchange.

To prevent such financial fraud, the police are sharing information related to malicious app victims with the five major virtual asset exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax).

According to data submitted by Democratic Party lawmaker Park Jung-hyun from the National Police Agency on the 28th, the police shared 3,791 pieces of information of individuals whose mobile phones had malicious apps installed and were at risk of damage with virtual asset exchanges from March 18th to the 8th of this month.

This is a measure taken considering that some of the proceeds from new financial fraud crimes are being laundered through virtual assets.

Exchanges connect the information provided by the police with existing member information, register them as 'Watch List' targets, and notify the police if unusual transactions are detected.

Mr. Lee deposited 150 million won into the virtual asset exchange Bithumb in four installments and attempted to withdraw virtual assets such as Solana (SOL) and Ripple (XRP), but only realized he was a victim of institutional impersonation voice phishing after hearing the police's explanation.

On the 16th of last month, Mr. Lee (33) was 'self-confined' in a motel in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, and was preparing to send 88.9 million won after depositing Korean won into Bithumb when he received a call from the police.

Mr. Kim (30) on the 21st of the same month, with part of the 68 million won he borrowed after being deceived by a financial fraudster, attempted to purchase and send virtual assets but stopped after being guided by the police who also received transaction information from the exchange.

Lawmaker Park Jung-hyun highly praised the collaboration between the police and virtual asset exchanges, stating, "As the methods and patterns of crimes targeting virtual assets have completely changed from before, we must thoroughly design investigator training, public-private cooperation, and international cooperation systems."