Exploiting Desperate Psychology from Investment Losses
Sending Links Claiming to Recommend Stocks While Explaining Luna Crash
Clear Deception and Money Fraud of Victims... Possible Application of Fraud Charges
In a KakaoTalk open chat room, stocks were recommended with a guarantee to recover losses caused by Luna Coin.
A KakaoTalk open chat room bearing the nameplate "Lunacoin Minus Loss Damage Prevention." The room host warmly comforted everyone who entered the chat room after suffering significant losses with Lunacoin. However, soon the host began selectively recommending only rising cryptocurrencies, sending one-on-one chat room links to people, promising to provide "picks" (stock recommendations). The host coaxed, "Cut your losses on the high-risk Luna, but you can capture opportunity costs with something else," adding, "I will help you earn daily profits of 10% to 20%, and up to 50% at times." One investor even expressed interest, saying, "I don't have money right now, but I want to raise funds through peer-to-peer (P2P) lending to invest."
As domestic cryptocurrencies Terra and Luna plummeted, scam tactics promising loss recovery have also been rampant. There are concerns that victims who have already suffered significant losses may be easily exposed to scams.
The main venues for scams targeting Lunacoin investors are KakaoTalk open chat rooms and YouTube. They explain in detail the reasons for Lunacoin's sharp decline and emphasize how they managed to avoid losses. They claim to have identified early warning signs of Lunacoin's crash through self-developed techniques or chart analysis.
A YouTube channel recommending futures trading as a way to recover losses from Luna Coin. It enticed investors by claiming returns of up to 110,000%.
At the end of these explanations, they ultimately offer to provide picks. They persuade victims that if they invest in spot or futures trading as instructed, they can easily recover lost money. One YouTube channel said, "If you had shorted during this Lunacoin crash, you could have earned an 110,000% return like me," and added, "I will tell you which cryptocurrencies you should invest in futures from now on." After watching this channel’s video, following the provided link leads to a form requesting name and contact information to enter an information-sharing room.
Investors are vulnerable to such scam risks because of their desperate situations. Major exchanges, including overseas cryptocurrency exchange Binance and domestic exchanges Upbit and Bithumb, have delisted or announced plans to delist Lunacoin. With no place to trade, trading volume decreases, effectively signaling the disappearance of Lunacoin itself. Furthermore, on the 14th (local time), Lunacoin investors in Singapore filed a fraud complaint against Terra CEO Kwon Do-hyung, placing the cryptocurrency’s operation at risk of collapse.
Legal experts interpret that if victims seeking to recover losses fall into new investment damages, they can report it as fraud. Lawyer Han Sang-jun of the law firm Daegeon said, "Since deception and acts to embezzle victims’ money are clear, fraud charges can be applied," adding, "If victims actively report, recovery from fraud damages is possible."
However, there are also warnings that cryptocurrency investment itself should be approached with caution. Professor Hong Ki-hoon of Hongik University’s Business Administration Department said, "Most cryptocurrencies are close to Ponzi schemes, which are multi-level financial frauds," and added, "The more you try to recover profits through cryptocurrencies, the more likely you are to suffer losses."
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