2023-07-30 21:00:00
“Our ‘Foreign Corridor’ is a system used by the world’s best foreign institutional investors. Investors can withdraw their funds smoothly.”
A new type of scam is spreading, in which investors are tricked into investing in Taiwanese listed stocks through a foreigner-only platform, tricked into putting money into the platform, and then siphoned off their money by blocking withdrawals.
Considering that stock trading is usually done through securities firms, and that withdrawals of funds were suddenly blocked, it seems that scammers have opened their own platform to deceive investors. The financial authorities said, “It’s the first time I’ve heard of a foreigner-only platform,” and said, “It’s not a normal investment.”
Graphics = Son Min-kyun
The starting point for Lee Min-guk (pseudonym, 52) to lose 80 million won was a Kakao Talk message. The person who claimed to be ‘Yeom Seung-hwan, director of eBest Investment & Securities’ sent a KakaoTalk message to Mr. Lee, saying, “Wouldn’t you like to take an investment class and receive information about popular stocks?” Director Yeom is a famous person on YouTube as a ‘Stock Ilta Instructor’.
He also invited me to download Telegram, offering a free investment class. Telegram, which is located overseas, rather than KakaoTalk, which is headquartered in Korea, is a channel that is relatively advantageous for scammers to commit crimes. This is because it is not easy for our financial authorities to request cooperation.
His free lecture lasted for two months in a group Telegram room with about 150 people. The main contents were information that would be familiar to an investor who invests in stocks, such as the correlation between trading volume and price, and the four elements of stock selection. Up to this point, Mr. Lee had not been asked for even one won. The room operator (impersonating director Yeom) posted a graph showing a profit of more than 10% by investing in Company A, a listed stock in Korea. He said, “Let’s increase the number of members and invest in company B next,” and the room members agreed with his words.
This time, Mr. Lee also invested in Company B according to the operator’s instructions, but rather suffered a 7% loss. The operator suggested, “The Korean market recognizes us as a force, so (this investment technique) does not seem to work in Korea.” The market he pointed out was Taiwan. Mr. Lee said, “Looking back, I think there were a lot of cheaters in that room,” and “It was a room to trick me.”
◇ It is said that it is an advantageous platform for investment… Site closed after deposit gulp
A character is added to Taiwan Stock Fraud. It’s a money changer. The room manager introduced Mr. Kim Su-cheol (pseudonym), a money changer, to Mr. Lee and said, “My chaebol friend and I are money changers who continue to exchange money, and if there is any loss, I will compensate the teacher.” The moneychanger was responsible for converting Korean Won into stablecoin Tether. When Mr. Lee deposited money to the money changer, Mr. Kim transferred the Tether to Mr. Lee’s electronic wallet.
The room manager sent Mr. Lee a link to download the Foreign Corridor Platform C. At the same time, the operator explained, “All funds deposited (in the foreign-only channel) are not just supervised,” and “the custodial bank must insure these funds.” It reassured Lee. However, the financial authorities explain that there is no foreigner-only investment platform.
The operator instructed Mr. Lee in detail on the items to be bought and sold on the C platform, the buying and selling prices, timing, and proportion. Mr. Lee sent 80 million won to the moneychanger on three occasions. On the C platform, as with any other mobile trading system (MTS), transaction details and profits could be checked. Most of Lee’s C platform accounts were red light.
Telegram conversation between Lee Min-guk (pseudonym, 52) and moneychanger Kim Soo-cheol (pseudonym)/provided by the reader
However, it was unable to cash out the shares in C. When Mr. Lee inquired with a C platform official through Telegram, the official said that he had to deposit 10% separately in the name of income tax to withdraw the deposited assets. After losing contact with the room operator and the moneychanger and being asked for additional money, Lee only then realized that it was a fraud by impersonating Yeom. After that, even access to the C platform was blocked.
Director Yeom Seung-hwan of the ‘real world’ is suing the town for fraud by impersonating himself. Director Yeom told Chosun Biz, “There are many people who impersonate not only on KakaoTalk but also on various social networks (SNS) such as Instagram.” . Director Yeom asked the police station to investigate his impersonation, but received an answer that it was impossible. This is because Director Yeom is not a victim under the Criminal Procedure Act.
The right to sue under the law is the victim of a crime, and the investigative agency limits the damage in such cases to money. This means that only victims who have been tricked into investing and lost money can report the impostor. A police official explained, “If it is a crime to swindle investors’ money by impersonating a stock expert, then it is not the person who was impersonated, but the person who lost the money, who is the victim of the crime.” “Only the victim can sue.”
◇ 48 people lost 6 billion won in the same structure
Mr. Lee collected 32 victims who were victims of the same method as himself through social network service (SNS). In addition to Director Yeom, scammers impersonated Park Soon-hyeok, former public relations director of Geumyang, who was popular with individual investors as ‘Battery Man’, and former head of the Seondaein Economic Research Institute. The victims were all victimized without knowing that they were impersonators.
While collecting the accounts of scam victims and money changers with similar structures, Mr. Lee confirmed that some of the money changer accounts overlapped, even though they were different cases. Three out of 10 moneychanger accounts on Platform C matched another case, moneychanger accounts on D Cryptocurrency Exchange. In the case of D Exchange, the structure was the same except that Taiwan stocks were changed to ESB, an unlisted coin, and C platform was changed to D Exchange.
Graphics = Son Min-kyun
Former director Park, John Lee, former CEO of Meritz Asset Management, and Oh Kun-young, head of Shinhan Bank’s WM headquarters, approached investors and recommended investing in ESB, an unlisted coin. The fraudsters said that ESB is a coin that can only be purchased at D Exchange, and that in order to buy ESB, you have to go through a money changer recommended by you. The D exchange, like the C platform, has a structure with money changers. The request for a 10-15% fee during the withdrawal process and the current withdrawal being blocked are the same as the C platform incident.
This is the part where the same person is suspected of cheating continuously with the same structure by changing the components. There are 19 victims of the D exchange case so far. There are 48 victims in the two incidents, excluding three overlapping victims, and the estimated damage to the victims is 6.01 billion won.
◇ Unfinished scam… Investor rings twice
The scammer is taking advantage of the fact that the victims’ money is tied up in platforms and exchanges, and is approaching again for a second fraudulent purpose, saying that they will withdraw money. Mr. Lee said, “A company called a senior company in the C platform sent a telegram and said that it would return the money in the account.”
A company official claiming to be a top company of the C platform is approaching the victim to extort additional money. / Provided by a reader
Police have now secured the identity of one moneychanger involved in the incident. Victims are preparing a class action lawsuit against specified moneychangers and others. If another money changer and the main culprit are additionally secured through the investigation, we plan to take legal action against them as well. The Financial Supervisory Service warned, “Companies that advertise that they provide high-yield information to an unspecified number of people are illegal companies, so be careful not to engage in any financial transactions.”
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