Mnemonic leak at Korea's tax service sparks $4.8M crypto theft

A security blunder at South Korea’s National Tax Service led to the theft of $4.8 million in cryptocurrency after a press release photo showed the mnemonic phrase for a seized wallet. The phrase, described as the master password for virtual assets, enabled hackers to drain the wallet almost immediately. According to the Hansung University Blockchain Research Institute, the leak occurred on 26 February when authorities displayed seized assets from habitual tax delinquents. One of the wallets belonged to a wealthy taxpayer, referred to as “Case 3.”