South Korea's biggest exchange fights deepfake fraud wave

Bithumb, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, put out an anti-phishing guide on May 14. The warning centers on AI-powered voice and video scams targeting people who hold digital assets.

The campaign goes by “Voice Phishing Complete Guide.” It’s part of the exchange’s Information Protection Day push. Focus is on deepfake and deepvoice fraud, where criminals use artificial intelligence to copy the voices and faces of family members, exchange staff, or government officials during live calls, according to DigitalToday.

AI-assisted fraud aimed at crypto investors has gotten more sophisticated over the past year. In one case cited by both DigitalToday and The Crypto Times, someone in Hong Kong got tricked by an AI-generated video conference and lost about 40 billion won. That’s equivalent to around $29 million.

Fraudsters impersonate support staff and relatives

Scammers are impersonating exchange customer support agents, bank employees, and even family. Their aim is to pressure people into installing remote access apps on their devices, handing over passwords, or moving funds to unknown wallets, according to Bithumb’s guide.

Bithumb listed out three rules that it says are essential for keeping assets safe:

• Never share OTP codes or passwords.
• Never click on URLs from unverified sources.
• Never send crypto to a stranger’s wallet address.

Bithumb also told users to turn on two-factor authentication and block logins from overseas IP addresses. For mobile users, the company pointed to telecom carriers’ AI-based phishing detection services as an extra layer of protection, according to The Crypto Times.

A Bithumb spokesperson said AI financial crimes are getting harder to spot. However, the exchange will continue to run security awareness campaigns.

Deepfake crypto losses pile up everywhere

Deepfake scams are not limited to Korean exchanges. In Canada, two people lost a combined $2.3 million to deepfake crypto scams, according to a Cryptopolitan report.

One victim in Ontario got pulled in by a fabricated video of Elon Musk promoting a crypto investment on Facebook. She eventually lost $1.7 million after being shown fake account balances and pressured into borrowing from family to cover supposed withdrawal fees.

A man from Prince Edward Island found an AI-generated promotional video. His losses hit $600,000.

Former U.S. prosecutor Erin West, who now investigates cryptocurrency fraud full-time, said that many of the scam operations run from compounds in Southeast Asia where workers are trafficked and forced to contact victims. Crackdowns in the region are pushing some operations to Latin America and Africa, West said.

The security campaign lands during a rough stretch for the exchange. Earlier in 2026, a “fat-finger” error reportedly credited hundreds of Bithumb users with 620,000 BTC units instead of 620,000 Korean won. Some users sold the mistakenly credited funds before the error got fixed.

The Seoul Administrative Court suspended enforcement of a six-month business ban on Bithumb, while the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit had previously accused the exchange of regulatory violations and slapped it with a 36.8 billion won fine. New rules now require firms handling overseas digital asset transfers to register with the Ministry of Economy and Finance before operating.

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