{"content":"🚨 A Cigarette Mistake Exposes $13M Crypto Scammer A 60-year-old fugitive behind a $13 million crypto fraud has finally been caught in South Korea — all because he threw a cigarette on the street. From Scam Mastermind to Street Litterer The man, identified only as Mr. A, had been on the run for nearly five years. Police in Seoul’s Gwanak District stopped him after he discarded a cigarette butt and tried to escape. When questioned, he refused to show his ID, attempted to bribe officers, and even tried to run away again while pretending to be on a call. But the chase ended right there — he was arrested on the spot. The $13M Scam Investigators soon discovered Mr. A wasn’t just avoiding a litter fine. He was the mastermind behind a 17.7 billion won scam ($13M) that tricked about 1,300 victims between 2018 and 2019. He had been a wanted fugitive since 2020, facing 10 separate charges including fraud and assault. Now, he’s been handed over to prosecutors in Seoul. When Crypto Scammers Slip Up This isn’t the first time crypto fraudsters have been undone by sloppy mistakes: James Zhong (2012): Stole 50,000 BTC from Silk Road but hid them in his home. A burglary led investigators straight to him. Arrested in 2019, sentenced in 2023. Heather Morgan & Ilya Lichtenstein (2016 Bitfinex Hack): Stole 119,000 BTC but left a messy trail while laundering funds. Morgan even flaunted her alter ego “Razzlekhan” online. Both were arrested in 2022; in 2024, Lichtenstein was sentenced to 5 years, Morgan to 18 months. The Lesson Crypto scams may run for years, but careless mistakes can bring everything crashing down. From hiding coins under floorboards to throwing a cigarette on the street — it’s often the smallest slip that ends the biggest crimes. #BTC ","images":["https://d2kdcqywr8ua22.cloudfront.net/uploadfile/article/blog/2025082025/08/23/33020cff1bef4deab1d2d9666c91ffac.png"],"tags":[],"tradingPairs":["BTC/USDT"],"quotearticleid":0}