South Korean Forgers Sell Fake Degrees for ₱11,949 ($200) in Crypto
South Korean criminals operating on Telegram sell fake university certificates alongside driving licenses and criminal record documents. Forgery arrests almost doubled between 2021 and 2023 as criminals prefer crypto payments to evade police detection.
Key Takeaway
Criminals prefer USDT for document forgery because crypto payments shield both seller and buyer from police tracking.
Herald Kyungjae reporter contacted a Telegram-based forger who offered a certificate of enrollment at Yonsei University for ₱5,974 ($100), with delivery promised within two hours. The forger claimed the documents look 100% identical to originals.
Yonsei University ranked 50th in the QS 2026 global rankings. A fake graduation certificate from the prestigious school costs ₱11,949 ($200) in crypto, while foreign university certificates run ₱20,373 ($341). The forger warned that bank transfers could make customers targets of police investigations and accepted USDT as the preferred payment method, with digital gift certificates also available as alternatives.
The criminal told the reporter that many competitor agencies running similar operations are actually scammers. Telegram-based criminals sell driving licenses, family relationship documents, criminal record certificates, and bank loan documents alongside university credentials.
Police said arrests for forgery in South Korea almost doubled between 2021 and 2023, with many cases going undetected.
This article was written based on reporting from Dlnews.
