Police Crack Down on Three Major 'Common People's Economy Violators' Including Phishing, Everyday Fraud, and Cybercrime

The government announced on the 21st a proposal to adjust investigative authority between the prosecution and the police, focusing on transferring the primary investigative authority and the authority to conclude investigations to the police. The relationship between the prosecution and the police will change from a vertical hierarchy to a cooperative partnership, and the prosecution's direct investigations will be limited to areas where they are absolutely necessary. A view of the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on the day. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The National Police Agency announced on the 31st that it will conduct an intensive crackdown on 'crimes infringing on the common people's economy' for five months from next month until October.

This crackdown is being carried out to focus on economic crimes that make the lives of ordinary people even more difficult amid the worsening economic situation caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The targets of the crackdown on crimes infringing on the common people's economy include ▲phishing scams (voice phishing, messenger phishing) ▲consumer fraud (fraudulent fundraising, multi-level marketing, illegal lending, insurance fraud) ▲cyber fraud (internet fraud, bodycam phishing, smishing), among others.

First, phishing scams will be primarily targeted by investigative units such as the Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit and Cyber Investigation Unit of the provincial police agencies, focusing on arresting ringleaders including those operating overseas call centers. A total of 174 members across 30 teams nationwide, called the 'Telephone Financial Fraud Comprehensive Investigation Team,' will be deployed. Additionally, the provincial police's crime proceeds tracking teams will actively work on recovering criminal proceeds through pre-indictment seizure and confiscation. They plan to track down the heads of criminal organizations through intelligence investigations based on database (DB) analysis and international cooperation such as requests for extradition of overseas criminals.

Furthermore, illegal private loan crimes and insurance fraud targeting economically and socially vulnerable groups, as well as employment and jeonse scams, will be intensively cracked down on, with a focus on protecting whistleblowers and victims and recovering criminal proceeds. In response to organized crimes committed in cyberspace such as bodycam phishing, smishing, and email trade fraud, crackdowns will be conducted mainly by the provincial police cyber investigation units, while cooperating with the Korea Communications Standards Commission and Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) to promptly block and delete sites used for crimes.

The National Police Agency emphasized, "As the investigative authority, we will do our best to fulfill the police role of protecting the public from the dangers of crime."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.