Voice Phishing Gang Sentenced for Extorting Money Using Prostitution and Body Cam Phishing Baits

A Total of Over 140 Million Won Extorted

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A voice phishing gang that blackmailed victims by filming parts of their bodies through 'bodycam phishing' or deceived them by promising to arrange prostitution and extorted money has been sentenced to prison.

According to the court on the 5th, Judge Lee Yoo-young of the Criminal Division 3 at the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced Mr. A to 3 years in prison, Mr. B to 2 years in prison, and Mr. C to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation for charges including fraud, extortion, violation of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, aiding fraud, and aiding extortion.

Mr. A and Mr. B are accused of deceiving victims from January 13 to March 15 by saying, "If you pay a reservation fee, we will arrange prostitution," and receiving about 133 million won in remittances from the victims. On February 14, they also extorted 4.2 million won from one victim.

They are also accused of using an application called 'TteokTok' to engage in obscene conversations with victims, secretly recording parts of their bodies while they were naked, and threatening to distribute the recorded videos to acquaintances if money was not sent, extorting 800,000 won from victims. In total, they extorted about 8.4 million won from eight people.

Mr. C is accused of assisting the crime by recommending his friend as a withdrawal agent to the voice phishing gang and finding someone to lend a check card and arranging the loan.

The judge explained the sentencing reason, saying, "Considering the method and content of the crime, the nature of the offense is very bad, and the scale of the damage is serious. Voice phishing crimes are sophisticated and planned, making them difficult to crack down on and the recovery of damages is not easy, causing great social harm, so strict punishment is necessary."

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