Scammers Target Elderly with Fake Digital Asset Investments

“It’s an opportunity to get rich. Participate in a next-generation national infrastructure project that connects the global stock market, blockchain, and digital assets.”

On the 11th, when the KOSPI neared the 8,000 mark, an investment briefing session for 'A Digital Asset Exchange,' which claimed to allow investment in unlisted coins, was in full swing in a building in Gwanak-gu, Seoul.

Outside the building, there was no sign, and it looked desolate, but the atmosphere changed once inside. Standees promoting the exchange's technical superiority were placed on the building's stairs, and the roughly 33-square-meter office was packed with various equipment and investors gathered to hear the explanation.

As soon as the reporter entered the office alone, Mr. B, who introduced himself as the representative, approached. He handed over a business card, saying, “If you buy C coin with the stablecoin Tether and stake it, you can receive a 576% return in 360 days. It’s an opportunity to make money, so think carefully.”

The business card he handed over was densely filled with small print promising high returns, such as “Participation starts from 100 Tethers (approximately 150,000 won),” “C token price starts at $0.1 (approximately 150 won) and is managed manually,” and “Scheduled to be listed on major exchanges.”

Soon after, Mr. B took the stage and declared, “A new financial order is beginning,” asserting that the price of C coin would never fall, and the 20 or so attendees nodded in agreement.

Except for the reporter, the audience, who appeared to be mostly elderly people in their 60s to 80s, seemed to be dreaming of becoming rich while looking at C coins displayed on their mobile phone apps.

Even as the domestic stock market hits record highs and the virtual asset investment craze has relatively subsided, scams using virtual asset investments as bait are rampant across Seoul.

The A exchange, which the reporter visited, recruited attendees through social media (SNS) or referrals from acquaintances and then held investment briefing sessions four times a day, luring the elderly by claiming they could make a lot of money.

They made statements such as “A government-approved exchange,” “Binance is making an equity investment,” and “The exchange promised that the coin price would never fall,” but upon verification, all were found to be baseless.

The A exchange did not have the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license required to operate a virtual asset exchange in Korea. The price of C coin was $0.05 per coin, and its daily trading volume was less than one, making it virtually a 'dead coin.'

This company claimed its headquarters were in Shenzhen, China, and showed photos, meeting scenes, and videos of the company. While the company in the photos did exist in China, it was identified as a seafood farming company completely unrelated to virtual assets.

This type of 'unlisted coin scam' appears to have been carried out for a long time at the same location, simply changing its name.

The building in Gwanak-gu where the investment briefing session was held was also the site of a briefing session a year ago that solicited investments with a similar purpose, promising high returns if one invested in coins.

Some of the investors from that time participated in the A exchange's group chat room, and occasionally, protest messages like “Why haven’t you returned my money after a year?” would appear, but they were always 'masked' by the management.

Experts warn that just as virtual asset and blockchain technology are transforming the traditional financial industry, the subject of traditional scams like multi-level marketing and Ponzi schemes is shifting to virtual assets in the criminal world.

An industry official advised, “Ultimately, a significant portion of virtual asset scams exploit the structure of ‘impatience’ and the ‘psychology of expecting high returns.’ When you receive an investment proposal from an unclear source, you must always verify its authenticity through official channels.”