BTS Star Jungkook Targeted as Hackers Steal $28.1M from South Korea’s Elite

South Korean police have dismantled an international hacking ring accused of stealing nearly 39 billion won ($28.1 million) from some of the country’s wealthiest and most high-profile figures, including BTS member ￰2￱ Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Cyber Investigation Unit announced on the 28th that 16 suspects had been arrested, among them two ringleaders identified only as Mr. A (35) and Mr. B (40). Three of the suspects remain in custody, while others face prosecution for hacking, fraud, and violations of the Information and Communications Network Act.

Celebrities, Lawyers, and Investors Targeted in South Korea’s Largest SIM-Swap Fraud According to South Korean news agency JoongAng , investigators said the hackers infiltrated six poorly secured websites belonging to government agencies, IT platforms, and financial institutions between July 2023 and April ￰3￱ exploiting these vulnerabilities, they stole the personal data of 258 victims, including resident registration numbers and financial authentication ￰4￱ victims included 75 businesspeople, 11 lawyers and officials, 12 celebrities, six athletes, and 28 virtual asset investors. Collectively, their accounts held an estimated 55.22 trillion won, with some balances exceeding 12 trillion won.

A criminal outline of the arrested organization/). South Korean authorities cracked down on several coordinated crypto fraud rings, arresting 25 suspects accused of duping investors through fake exchanges and false profit promises. #CryptoFraud #SouthKorea ￰0￱ — ￰5￱ (@cryptonews) May 15, 2025 The fraudsters posed as financial advisors through fake call centers, luring investors onto counterfeit exchanges with promises of high returns and guaranteed ￰6￱ a separate case, a senior police officer from Incheon was charged with embezzling around 700 million won ($509,000) from at least 10 victims in a bogus crypto project. meanwhile, Park “Jonbur Kim,” a prominent industry figure nicknamed the “Coin King,” faces trial over the fraudulent issuance and price manipulation of Artube coin, which caused 68 billion won ($47 million) in investor ￰7￱ are also investigating large-scale money laundering through overseas payment platform Neteller ￰8￱ say unlicensed money changers processed 943.4 billion won ($694 million) between 2019 and 2024, earning nearly 26 billion won ($18.9 million) in ￰9￱ seized assets, including 4.4 billion won in Ethereum hidden in personal wallets.

Crypto-related fraud has extended into romance scams and celebrity ￰10￱ July, a man in his 50s lost over 100 million won ($73,500) after a fake romantic partner convinced him to invest in a fraudulent ￰11￱ August, prosecutors sought a three-year prison term for actress Hwang Jung-eum , accused of embezzling 4.3 billion won ($3.1 million) from her agency to fund crypto ￰12￱ Korean actress Hwang Jung-eum has admitted in court to embezzling over $3 million from her own agency for cryptocurrency investments. #SouthKorea #Crypto ￰1￱ — ￰13￱ (@cryptonews) May 20, 2025 Despite these cases, South Korea remains one of the world’s most active crypto markets.

A Chainalysis report valued regional inflows at $130 billion in 2024, with more than 10.8 million Koreans actively trading digital ￰14￱ 10,000 investors hold balances above 1 billion won ($750,000) , led by younger traders in their 20s who, despite being the smallest group by number, report the highest average ￰15￱ are now preparing to approve the country’s first spot crypto ETFs and a won-pegged stablecoin , while exchanges like Upbit expand custody services to institutional clients .