Caught Red-handed: How One Cigarette Butt Led to a $13M Crypto Fraudster's Downfall

A 60-year-old fugitive who orchestrated a massive $13 million crypto scam got nabbed in South Korea last week. And you won't believe what finally brought him down after five years on the run – a goddamn cigarette butt.

I'm still laughing at the irony. This guy managed to steal millions, evade authorities for years, and then gets caught because he couldn't be bothered to find a trash can. Talk about a smoking gun!

The Seoul cops spotted him tossing his cigarette on the street in Gwanak District. When they approached, the dude completely lost his cool. He refused to show ID, tried bribing the officers, and even begged them to "let me go just this once" while frantically trying to escape in a taxi.

Then came his pathetic fake phone call act before attempting to run. Amateur hour! The police weren't having any of it.

Turns out this street litterer – only identified as "A" – had scammed around 1,300 people between 2018-2019. After vanishing in 2020, he probably thought he was untouchable. Well, karma's a bitch, isn't it?

And he's not the only crypto criminal whose stupidity led to their capture. Remember James Zhong? This idiot stole 50,000 bitcoins from Silk Road (worth billions today) and then just... stashed them around his house. When his place got robbed in 2019, he actually called the cops himself! The IRS got involved, connected him to the hack, and down he went. At least he only got one year in prison – barely a slap on the wrist if you ask me.

Even more ridiculous were Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein. These two jackasses pulled off the 2016 exchange hack but couldn't resist flaunting their ill-gotten gains. Morgan created this cringe "Razzlekhan" alter ego, making awful rap videos while investigators were already closing in. How stupid can you get?

These crypto criminals always make the same mistake – thinking they're smarter than everyone else. Whether it's littering, calling the cops on yourself, or posting incriminating evidence online, their arrogance eventually trips them up.

Just goes to show that no matter how clever these scammers think they are, even the smallest slip-up can bring their whole house of cards crashing down. And frankly, I'm here for it.