Voice Phishing Gang Impersonating Prosecutors and Financial Supervisory Service, Embezzling 2.8 Billion Won, Arrested and Indicted

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A voice phishing gang that impersonated a prosecutor's investigator and a Financial Supervisory Service employee to steal 2.8 billion KRW in cash has been brought to trial.

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office Financial and Tax Crime Division (Chief Prosecutor Ha Dong-woo) and Seongdong Police Station announced on the 15th that they have arrested and indicted five members of a voice phishing gang who defrauded approximately 2.8 billion KRW in cash from four victims.

They are accused of impersonating a prosecutor's investigator and Financial Supervisory Service employees from July to August, falsely telling four victims, "Your account is involved in a crime, so entrust the money in your account to our staff," and embezzling 2.8 billion KRW from them.

According to the investigation by prosecutors and police, when the victims withdrew cash, two so-called 'collectors' gathered the money and handed it over to two 'delivery agents,' who then gave the cash to money exchangers. The gang used a method called 'hwan-chigi' to transfer the money overseas, making it difficult to trace. Prosecutors applied charges of violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) to the collectors and delivery agents, and charges of aiding fraud and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act to the money exchangers.

Among the victims, Mr. A (49) withdrew all 2.6 billion KRW in his account, including his father's inheritance, and handed it over to the gang. Prosecutors explained that this case is the largest single-person victim amount detected so far in voice phishing cases. During the process of withdrawing cash over ten times, Mr. A checked "No" on the financial fraud prevention questionnaire when asked if he had received a call impersonating the prosecution, prosecutors explained.

A prosecutor official stated, "We plan to recommend to the Financial Supervisory Service to improve the system by including questions in the prevention questionnaire used by financial institutions about whether employees have directly explained voice phishing cases."

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