- Commission plans to make amendments in April
- They will allow investigators to freeze the accounts of criminals on crypto exchanges
South Korea Financial Services Commission (FSC) released important statement. It will expand the current law on voice phishing to include phone scams related to cryptocurrencies. It will also give policemen the power to make amends for victims. Including they will be able to freeze suspicious accounts on crypto exchanges.
Voice scammers often impersonate authorities to extort money or financial information. They often transfer the money received by fraud to crypto-exchanges. But right now, local authorities cannot arrest suspicious crypto accounts due to legal restrictions.
The FSC and the ruling People’s Power Party will propose amendments to the local voice phishing law in April. They will allow financial institutions and crypto service providers to exchange account information on a KYC basis. In case of complaints, the police will freeze accounts.
The FSC said losses from voice-phishing using cryptocurrencies reached about 20 billion Korean won ($15 million) last year. This is more than double what it was in 2020 (when voice scammers embezzled 8.26 billion won).
Recall that South Korea plans to revise the rules for staking cryptocurrencies. They do not rule out a ban on this service. They were “inspired” to take such a step by the actions of their colleagues from the US SEC.
