AfreecaTV BJ (broadcast jockeys) stars was the most recent targets of additional and additional refined South Korean crypto scammers.
Asia Kyungjae reported that the Seoul Central District Courtroom sentenced a “man in his thirties” to five years in penal advanced for crypto-linked fraud.
AfreecaTV BJ Stung to Tune of $1.6m
AfreecaTV is South Korea’s leading proper-time streaming platform, and its greatest BJ stars was celebrities in their like upright.
On the different hand, scammers to find begun looking out out for to exploit the platform to lure BJ stars to take half in advanced crypto fraud initiatives.
The court heard that the unnamed fraudster stole crypto and cash on “over 30 times” from a BJ superstar and an unnamed “businessman.”
The fraudster duped the victims by first successful their belief by donating the BJ “superstar balloons” worth “tens of tens of millions of KRW.”
Afreeca launched its superstar balloon mission in 2017. One superstar balloon is worth around $0.08, and South Koreans can top up balloon balances on- and offline to spend on the platform.
Streamers might perchance perchance spend “balloons” at convenience stores and other retail outlets.
Many leading AfreecaTV BJ stars use balloons as a well-known source of profits, with followers donating all the diagram thru livestreams.
The decide heard that the scammer weak balloon donations to “fetch the favor” of his victims.
After gaining the BJ superstar’s belief, the fraudster then began to make use of the platform’s Articulate aim to keep up a correspondence with the streamers.
The fraudster targeted the livestreaming superstar after listening to them whinge about a sequence of failed crypto and stock market investments.
Within the AfreecaTV headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea. (Offer: 2anatv/YouTube)Fraudster ‘Old faculty Fraudulent Crypto Pockets Recordsdata to Trick Sufferer’
The scammer, the court heard, “pretended to be a crypto investment knowledgeable.” They confirmed the celebs a “Bitcoin pockets stability worth over 3.8 million.” The fraudster suggested the superstar:
“In case you make investments as I counsel, I guarantee you returns of two to four times. And even whenever you lose cash, I will accomplish up for it with my like cash.”
The court heard that one amongst the BJ stars despatched the fraudster over $7,500, “followed by one other rate of $1.1 million” in November 2021.
In January 2022, the court heard, the fraudster confirmed the BJ screenshots that “proved” their investment was now worth almost $21 million.
The fraudster also suggested the “anxious” broadcaster that there was no deserve to scare, as he owned “four properties” in the outlandish Gangnam District of Seoul.
On the different hand, the BJ grew to changed into suspicious when the fraudster easiest agreed to let the superstar to find entry to $75,000 worth of their funds.
Despite the fraudster’s intrepid claims, the court heard that “if truth be told,” this particular person “ran a public kinfolk company that was on the verge of closing down.”
The fraudster had “cash owed exceeding $52,600,” and had also been utilizing a the same diagram to dupe a industry acquaintance in a the same system.
The presiding decide defined that the “BJ had suffered damages effectively definitely worth the entirety of their resources.”
The decide acknowledged that the scope of the “psychological and financial wretchedness sustained” known as for a long, punitive sentence.
South Korea’s first home made detect satellite tv for pc has transmitted images of central Pyongyang, in a single amongst its earliest missions since being launched slack final year, Yonhap reported https://t.co/8OD68ZxzM2
— Bloomberg (@industry) March 3, 2024
Factual over a year in the past, a leading domestic security provider warned of a upward push in South Korean crypto mining-linked scams.
A 2023 gape, in the period in-between, stumbled on that 71% of South Korean crypto scam victims were female – with the majority weak 39 and below.
