Bullet Points:
• South Korean police are investigating a $8 million crypto scam targeting investors who have suffered financial losses.
• The alleged scammers posed as a “loss compensation team” and sold an unlisted crypto-asset called Epay Coin.
• The group of 40 victims have suffered combined losses of $1.6 million, and it is suspected that hundreds of investors may have been affected.
South Korean police are currently probing a potential $8 million crypto scam, after a group of 40 alleged victims took their case to a Seoul-based law firm, For You Law. The victims claimed that they were tricked by a group of scammers who posed as a “loss compensation team” and attempted to dupe them into buying a non-existent crypto-asset.
According to reports, the scammers told individuals they could recoup their failed investments by buying an unlisted crypto-asset, named Epay Coin. They allegedly claimed that the individuals could access the coin via a private sale – and then expect “big profits” after the token was listed. The masterminds of the scam also said the coin would be listed on major overseas exchanges such as Binance and Huobi, and on large domestic exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb.
However, Binance officials stated that they had never heard of the coin in question. For You Law, the law firm representing the 40 victims, stated that the group had suffered combined losses of $1.6 million, and that it suspected that “hundreds” of investors may have been affected.
When reporters attempted to contact the Epay Coin operators, they could not get through, nor could they visit their so-called offices. As of now, the whereabouts of the masterminds behind the crypto scam remain unknown. The South Korean police are currently investigating the case to determine the extent of the scam and to identify the perpetrators.