20-Year-Old Woman Forcedly Repatriated from Japan for 'Internet Secondhand Luxury Goods Scam' That Made 128 People Cry

Damage amounting to 600 million KRW... 115 nationwide warrants issued
Victims' group cafe created
Arrested after 4 years since leaving Japan

Operated online gambling site worth 400 billion KRW in Vietnam
Man in his 30s also brought to Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A habitual fraudster who posted fake luxury goods sales ads on an online secondhand trading site, swindled over 600 million won, and fled overseas has been forcibly repatriated to South Korea.

The National Police Agency announced on the afternoon of the 5th that they had escorted a woman in her 20s, Ms. A, to Incheon Airport through cooperation with Interpol Japan.

Ms. A is accused of deceiving people into transferring money by pretending to sell secondhand luxury goods online from March 2016 to October this year, or by sending false messages indicating that payment had been made when purchasing items, thereby fraudulently taking money and goods. It has been identified that 128 people were victimized by Ms. A, with the total damage amounting to 628.38 million won.

In particular, even after departing for Japan in July 2016, she continuously committed similar crimes locally, resulting in a nationwide total of 115 warrants issued. Ms. A’s ongoing fraudulent activities became so notorious online that victims even formed an internet cafe to gather.

The police tracked Ms. A through the Japanese address used in the crimes and, in cooperation with Interpol Japan and the police attach? in Japan, arrested her locally on the 26th of last month. The police plan to speed up the investigation, believing there may be more undisclosed victims.

Jang Woo-sung, head of the Foreign Investigation Division at the National Police Agency, said, “This is a model case of proactively arresting and repatriating a suspect by identifying the ongoing fraud in advance and cooperating with Interpol Japan,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to track and arrest fugitives abroad through Interpol channels.”

Meanwhile, the police also repatriated a man in his 30s, Mr. B, who had illegally opened and operated an online gambling site, from Vietnam on the same day. Mr. B is suspected of creating and running an illegal online gambling site worth 400 billion won in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 2016 to 2018.

Mr. B, who continued to evade capture by illegally using another person’s passport, was arrested locally last month following international cooperation investigations involving the police’s Interpol red notice and Vietnam’s 'Korean Desk.'

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