A serious security breach by South Korean tax authorities has led to the loss of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.

According to local media reports, the Korea National Tax Service #BuyTheDipOrWaitNow? NTS( accidentally shared the recovery seed phrase of a seized crypto wallet in a press release photo. Shortly afterward, it was revealed that approximately 4.8 million dollars )about 6.4 billion won( worth of tokens had been transferred to an unknown wallet.

The incident began with a press statement issued by the NTS, announcing the results of a field operation targeting 124 high-value and repeated tax debtors. The statement disclosed that assets totaling 8.1 billion won )about 8.2 million dollars( had been seized. In the case, labeled as “Case 3,” authorities reported that during a search at tax debtor C’s address, four USB drives used to store crypto wallets were confiscated.

However, the real problem emerged from the photos shared to showcase the success. The images clearly showed a Ledger hardware wallet and, without any censorship, the mnemonic code—comprising English words used to recover the wallet—was openly displayed. In the crypto world, mnemonic phrases are as critical as a bank account password and security card combined. Anyone who knows this sequence of words, even without physical access to the device, can recreate the wallet from anywhere in the world and transfer the assets.

Indeed, this vulnerability was quickly exploited. According to Prof. Cho Jae-woo, Director of the Hansung University Blockchain Research Institute, immediately after the mnemonic was leaked, 4 million PRTG )Pre-Retogeum( tokens were transferred to an unknown address. The total estimated loss is around 4.8 million dollars.

INVESTMENT WARNING NOT ADVISED

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