Incidents of suspected illicit stock trading soared last year, reflecting the rampant amount of false and exaggerated information in the market amid uncertainties, the Korea Exchange said Sunday.

The bourse operator’s market supervisory committee reported that 120 suspected cases of unfair transactions were observed here last year, up from 118 in 2018 and 117 in 2017.

Of the total, illicit trading accounted for 28 cases, or 23.3 percent, up 47.4 percent -- 19 more cases -- from a year earlier. The number of alleged price-rigging cases came to 20, or 16.7 percent of the total, down 9.1 percent on-year. The number of undisclosed information abuse cases marked 57, down 14.9 percent during the same period.

Ninety-two cases of last year’s total occurred in the tech-heavy secondary Kosdaq market, which tends to see rapid changes in trading volume and fluctuating price variations.

To prevent illegal transactions, the KRX has warned investors to closely analyze financial structures, business performance and stock trading trends of listed firms before making investments.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)