[Exclusive] Rapid Surge in 'Coin Phishing' with 76 Cases Detected in 5 Months... Surpassing Last Year's Total

Coin Market Overheating Leads to Surge in Phishing Scams
76 Cases Blocked from January to May This Year
24.6% Increase Compared to 51 Cases Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun and Gong Byung-sun] The so-called 'coin phishing' scam, which tricks users into accessing fake cryptocurrency exchange websites to steal personal information such as IDs and passwords, is surging in tandem with the overheated cryptocurrency market. As of May this year, a total of 76 cases have been detected, already surpassing the total number of cases detected throughout last year (61 cases).

According to the 'Coin Phishing Detection Records and Cases' data obtained by Asia Economy on the 17th through a request to Rep. Yoon Chang-hyun of the People Power Party, the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) has blocked a total of 76 phishing sites impersonating virtual asset exchanges as of May this year. The number of cases detected in the first five months of this year has already increased by 24.6% (15 cases) compared to the total detected cases last year (61 cases).

'Coin phishing' has been increasing rapidly every year. The number of phishing sites targeting exchanges, which was only 15 cases in 2017 (based on KISA blocking records), steadily rose to 28 cases in 2018, 40 cases in 2019, and 61 cases in 2020. KISA cooperates with telecommunications companies such as SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus to block reported phishing sites.

(Source: Yoon Chang-hyun, People Power Party, Korea Internet & Security Agency)

Coin phishing is carried out by creating a 'login window' similar to legitimate exchange sites like Coinone and Bithumb, displaying a notification such as 'Overseas IP login detected, please reassign your device,' to steal users' IDs, emails, and passwords.

In fact, in April, user A of the Coinone exchange received a message stating that a login attempt to their Coinone account was made from an overseas IP address. The message read, 'Your Coinone account is currently exposed to hacking, and to prevent risks, please click the following link to apply for overseas IP blocking service.' User A noticed that the link address was 'coineone' instead of 'coinone.' He said, "I heard that if you log in through the link, all information on your smartphone will be stolen," and added, "Investors have become sensitive to exchange security issues recently, but I didn't expect this to be exploited."

Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, is attending and questioning at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee's audit of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission held on the 15th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Rep. Yoon Chang-hyun of the People Power Party said, "Following the sudden delisting of coins, the coin phishing sites have also struck, making the virtual asset trading environment extremely unstable," and added, "Relevant ministries should take a swift and strict law enforcement approach with the attitude of eradicating coin-related crimes from the outset."