South Korea's Tax Agency Exposed Crypto Master Key in Leaked Photos

The National Tax Service (NTS) in South Korea has faced intense scrutiny after a security breach resulted in the theft of approximately $4.8 million in PRTG tokens.

The incident occurred on February 26 during a press conference, where high-resolution images of seized cold-storage USB wallets were distributed to showcase enforcement success. However, these photos inadvertently included a mnemonic code, a 24-word master key used to access digital assets.

An individual claiming to be an ordinary investor used the exposed code to drain the wallet on February 27, resulting in the theft of 4 million PRTG tokens. In a surprising twist, this 'first hacker' contacted the police and media on February 28, stating they had returned the full amount to the NTS wallet shortly after.

However, just two hours later, a second entity successfully transferred the entire balance to a wallet flagged for 'fake phishing' activities. Security experts criticized the NTS for failing to secure the returned funds and move them to a new, secure wallet.