A 50-year-old man from South Korea translated more than 105 million won (about $ 77,400) as a result of a scam with a romantic acquaintance.

The victim began to communicate with a woman from Japan through a dating application, and their communication lasted 46 days. Believing in the seriousness of the feeling of a friend, he promised to marry her. Then the woman said that they needed to prepare for a financial marriage, so she convinced him to make a deposit on a certain cryptocurrency platform that she used. At first, the man did not want to do this because of the lack of knowledge about digital assets, but was afraid to lose his lover and agreed to invest 200,000 won (about $ 145).

Having made sure of the profitability of his investments and the possibility of withdrawing funds, the Korean began to trust his friend more. Inspired by success, he continued to invest, investing a total of $ 77,400. Later, the woman demanded additional payments from him, saying that the profit is subject to 5%daily tax. When a man said that he could no longer send money, scammers stopped communication with him and disappeared.

The financial supervision service of the Republic of Korea (FSS) warned that romantic scams are especially dangerous, since the victims can hardly refuse the request to the person he liked, with whom they believe, relations have started. As a result, deceived remain with major financial losses. The regulator warned that scammers usually pretend to be foreigners planning to visit Korea, express sympathy and send links to cryptocurrency exchanges, convincing potential sacrifices that they have successful experience in investments. If someone sends such links through dating applications or social networks, this may turn out to be fraud.

In May, the FSC tightened the rules for conducting transactions with crypto actures for non -profit organizations in order to reduce the risk of illegal activity and money laundering. Earlier, the South Korean authorities expressed their readiness to introduce more strict requirements for suppliers of virtual assets (VASP) services.