Hackers Who Stole Millions from Influential Citizens Arrested in South Korea
Date: 2025-09-01 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
South Korean law enforcement announced the arrest of 16 people who were part of a criminal network that managed to steal more than $28 million from the accounts of wealthy citizens. The victims included entrepreneurs of major corporations, government officials, famous lawyers, athletes and celebrities, including Jungkook from BTS.
From July 2023 to April 2024, the attackers carried out targeted attacks on the websites of government agencies, banks and IT companies. As a result, they managed to gain access to the personal data of 258 people, whose total wealth was estimated at almost $40 billion. The largest single theft amounted to $15.4 million, stolen in cryptocurrency.
According to the police, the criminal scheme was centered on two Chinese citizens, aged 35 and 40. They coordinated their actions from China and Thailand, using counterfeit SIM cards to bypass authentication systems. The hackers issued 118 cards in the names of 89 victims, which allowed them to directly access bank accounts and crypto wallets.
The main target of the attack was an account with assets worth $8.6 billion, but the intervention of law enforcement officers did not allow the theft to be completed.
Of the 16 arrested, four acted as intermediaries, helping to launder the stolen funds. The leaders of the group were detained in Bangkok with the participation of Interpol. One of them has already been extradited to South Korea, and the second remains under arrest in Thailand, awaiting a decision on extradition.
The head of the Seoul Police Cybercrime Investigation Department, Oh Kyu-sik, said that this case was an unprecedented example of bypassing the remote identification system. According to him, if the hackers had managed to fully implement their plan, the consequences could have been much larger.
Experts note that such attacks are becoming more frequent, and hackers are particularly interested in cryptocurrency. However, in South Korea, not only investors but also representatives of a wider circle of wealthy citizens remain the target of attackers.
This case became a reminder of the need to improve cyber defense systems and strengthen international cooperation to combat such crimes. In the context of the rapid growth of the crypto market and the digitalization of financial services, such threats are becoming especially significant.
