US EditionOops: South Korean Cops Lost $5M in Seized Crypto After Leaking Wallet Password
The National Tax Service mistakenly exposed a hardware wallet seed phrase, enabling a thief to steal about $4.8 million in Pre-Retogeum tokens from seized assets.
- On February 27, South Korea's National Tax Service published photos of a Ledger wallet and seed phrase, enabling an anonymous opportunist to steal four million Pre-Retogeum tokens, worth about $4 million, shortly after the release.
- The failure to redact the handwritten note meant the National Tax Service exposed a seed phrase in photos accompanying the confiscation of more than $5 million from over 100 tax evaders.
- The exposed seed phrase lets attackers bypass the physical device, enabling a blockchain transaction in the wee hours of February 27; the stolen Pre-Retogeum token has a $12 million market cap, and CoinMarketCap shows no laundering yet.
- The error immediately undercut law-enforcement goals by embarrassing the National Tax Service and drawing wide coverage from outlets like Bleeping Computer, following losses by prosecutors in Gwangju and 22 Bitcoin last month.
- The episode underscores operational-security challenges authorities will face in the near future, as experts warn converting tokens with single-exchange listing and $12 million market cap is difficult, while CoinMarketCap data suggests no laundering attempt yet.
29 Articles
29 Articles
Cops Accidentally Publicize Password to $4.4 Million in Crypto, Allowing Thieves to Easily Steal the Money and Run
Cryptocurrencies have long been used by criminals for tax evasion, allowing them to avoid getting dinged by things like capital gains taxes by investing in the digital assets. In the United States, the federal justice system is only starting to crack down on the trend, a game of cat and mouse made difficult by anonymized accounts and transactions. But in an announcement to publicize the results of recent raids on 125 tax evaders, which resulted …
$20K in Stolen Games, a $5M Crypto Blunder, and a Very Bad Week for Internet Security
This week in cybersecurity: stolen PlayStation accounts, AI chat transcripts sold by data brokers, tax-season scams, deepfake identity attacks, and a crypto wallet emptied after authorities accidentally exposed its seed phrase.
South Korea's tax office lost millions in crypto after accidentally posting the wallet's master key
South Korean authorities made a serious blunder as they sought to showcase their crackdown on online fraud and cybercrime. According to local reports, Seoul's National Tax Service (NTS) released a press statement detailing an on-site investigation targeting 124 high-profile tax fraud suspects. In the process, it also published a photo...Read Entire Article
The South Korean tax authority has been a bit overenthusiastic about a large-scale crackdown on tax evasion. After raids on the homes of 124…
As won, the South Korean tax authorities in Jubeleifer accidentally disclosed the passwords to confiscated Krypo wallets. Much of the confiscated money subsequently involuntarily changed hands with the owner. According to the US blog Gizmodo, based on local sources, the South Korean tax authority had confiscated cryptocurrencies worth around 8.1 million won (4.7 million euros) in the course of investigations against 124 tax offenders at the end …
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