Convenience Store Owners Association: "Suspect New Scam If Google Gift Card 'Photo' Is Requested"

At Convenience Stores, Purchase 'Google Gift Cards'
and Send Photos of Serial Numbers
Crime Targeting Elderly Unfamiliar with Usage

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] #. Last Friday, 57-year-old Mihee Jo (alias), who lives in Seoul, had a harrowing experience involving a scam impersonating her son. An anonymous person, A, pretending to be her son, 20-something office worker Seongjun Ha (alias), sent a text message claiming his phone was broken and asked her to purchase a 'Google Gift Card' at a convenience store and send photos of it. Fortunately, Jo narrowly avoided the scam thanks to the intervention of a nearby acquaintance, but thinking back on it still makes her heart sink. Although she reported it to the police, due to the nature of voice phishing crimes using 'dapo-phones' (burner phones), tracking the culprit is difficult, making arrest challenging.

Recently, as scams targeting the elderly by sending texts impersonating their children to steal serial numbers of online gift certificates sold at convenience stores have surged, convenience store owners have started responding mainly through social networking services (SNS).

The Korea Convenience Store Owners Association announced on the 22nd that ahead of Chuseok, as scams involving Google Gift Cards, a type of online gift certificate, have become frequent, convenience store associations of each brand are conducting prevention activities via SNS platforms such as Naver Band.

A convenience store owner operating CU in Ulsan posted an article on September 9th on the Naver Band 'HamkkehaeCU,' run by the CU Franchise Owners Association, introducing methods to prevent Google Gift Card scams.

The post was shared across several bands linked to HamkkehaeCU and CU store owners, and through this, owners who recognized the scam methods prevented about 20 related crimes by stopping victims from purchasing gift cards on site.

Additionally, CU headquarters informs all franchise stores about the scam methods and issues prevention guidelines, including asking purchasers of Google Gift Cards about their reasons for purchase. Seven Eleven convenience store owners also share scam cases on their Naver Cafe to strengthen crime prevention efforts.

A representative of the Korea Convenience Store Owners Association added, "We are cooperating with local police stations to conduct prevention activities against voice phishing and smishing crimes using convenience stores."

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