South Korean Tax Authorities Lose Seized Cryptocurrency After Posting Wallet Passwords Online
By
WarOnPrivacy
Fresh out the oven, still warm. Top of the tray.
Summary
South Korean tax authorities seized approximately $5.6 million in cryptocurrency from tax evaders but inadvertently lost a significant portion of the assets after posting photographs of hardware wallets that displayed the seed phrases. The National Tax Service's press release included images of Ledger wallets with visible recovery phrases, essentially giving away access to the seized funds. This security blunder highlights the challenges law enforcement faces with digital asset management and the importance of proper crypto security protocols.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledSouth Korea's National Tax Service seized crypto assets during recent enforcement actions against 124 high-value tax evaders, but now, a large chunk of that crypto cash has been lost.
The operation originally resulted in the confiscation of crypto holdings worth about 8.1 billion won, or roughly $5.6 million.
The release included photographs of Ledger hardware wallets taken into custody along with handwritten notes that displayed the wallet seed phrases.
The digital equivalent of snatching coins from someone's outstretched hands.
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