"Student in a Hurry Asking for Bus Fare..." Turns Out to Be a Shameless Scammer [Han Seung-gon's Case Notebook]

Approaching with "Urgent Matter" and "No Fare"... Borrowing Money and Disappearing
Crimes Mainly Occur at Crowded Subway and Bus Terminals

Reference photo. Commuters are wearing masks while moving at a subway station during the morning rush hour. The photo is not related to any specific expressions in the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] # Lee, a college student in his 20s, recently experienced a ridiculous incident. At a crowded subway station, a man in his 40s approached him, said he was in a hurry, gave a contact number, and borrowed transportation fare. However, the contact number was fake, and the man could not be found. Lee said, "Is it okay to mock a kind heart that tries to help like that?" expressing his frustration.

As the Lunar New Year holiday begins, crowds are expected at bus terminals and train stations. There is growing concern over so-called 'transportation fare scams,' where scammers approach people claiming they need fare money, provide fake contact information promising to repay, and then disappear.

Lee is not the first victim of such transportation fare scams. In December 2017 at Daejeon Station, a woman in her 50s approached another victim saying, "If you give me transportation fare, I will send it to your account," took 25,000 won, and never repaid it.

There was also a case where someone committed such crimes nationwide, collecting hundreds of thousands of won. In March 2016, Park, who visited a hair salon in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, pretended to be a resident and claimed he had no transportation fare, receiving money. He was sentenced to six months in prison for fraud.

Park told residents, "I lost my wallet and have no transportation fare, so please lend me 20,000 won, and I will repay you tomorrow," collecting 20,000 won each time. He traveled across Daejeon, Daegu, Gumi, Ulsan, and other cities, committing the scam 15 times and collecting a total of 510,000 won, for which he was prosecuted.

There are also cases where foreigners approach and collect money. At some subway stations, a suspect introduced himself as a French expatriate and collected money from college students in their 20s. The suspect said, "I took the wrong taxi and ended up here," and "If you lend me transportation fare, I will give you my email. Please contact me there," taking money from strangers and then disappearing.

Bus terminal. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

All these crimes are a form of deception-based fraud, and courts have handed down prison sentences. In fact, in May 2017, a defendant prosecuted for a similar crime was sentenced to six months in prison by the Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 3.

Also, in May 2016, Judge Lee Ji-min of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 sentenced Kim, who was charged with extorting money from a passerby at Seoul Station by asking for transportation fare, to a fine of 2 million won.

Unemployed Kim approached Choi (then 20) in the Seoul Station waiting room on the afternoon of July 31, 2015, as Choi was about to board the KTX bound for Busan. Kim said, "I live in Busan but lost my wallet. If you lend me transportation fare, I will transfer the money to your account," pretending to be in a difficult situation.

Believing this, Choi gave Kim 40,000 won in cash on the spot. However, Kim disappeared after promising to send the money via bank transfer. Eventually, Kim was prosecuted for fraud, and the court found him guilty.

Experts say these acts are essentially fraud, and if something seems suspicious or criminal, people should report to the nearest police station. A local police official explained, "Places like subways and terminals have one thing in common: they are crowded. The surrounding confusion makes it difficult to make proper judgments," adding, "Guiding people to the nearest police station is the safest method."

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