A Man in His 40s, Victim of Voice Phishing, Commits Suicide... The Culprit Is a 'University Lecturer with 10 Years of Experience'

Voice phishing. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Amid the occurrence of an incident where a man in his 40s, who was a victim of voice phishing, took his own life, the victim's family has come forward to plead for severe punishment of the perpetrator.

On the 23rd, a post titled "I am the younger sibling of the older brother who passed away due to voice phishing" was uploaded on an online community.

A, who identified themselves as the younger sibling of the deceased head of the household, Mr. Lim, opened up by saying, "(Mr. Lim) was a kind older brother and a reliable head of the household who was lost to the world after being found dead at home on October 31st, the day after he was victimized by voice phishing on October 30th last year."

A explained, "(My older brother) handed over cash to the delivery agent after suspecting the voice phishing scammer's claim that a double contract on a loan would make him a credit delinquent."

According to A, Mr. Lim, who was self-employed at the time, was on the verge of having to close his store and took out a loan from a capital company. During this time, he received dozens of calls and was told that taking out an additional loan from the bank could result in becoming a credit delinquent.

Suspecting voice phishing, Mr. Lim personally called the bank and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to verify the information, but the people who answered assured him that the calls were genuine and not voice phishing.

However, Mr. Lim's phone had already been hacked, and the calls were connected not to the bank or the FSS but to the voice phishing gang. The gang said that the capital loan had to be repaid in cash to avoid being reported and said they would send someone. Mr. Lim eventually handed over 12 million won to Mr. B, who came to the scene.

A said, "After handing over the cash, he hurriedly took a taxi while watching the suspect leave, realized he had been scammed, and chased after him but lost him. He memorized the taxi number, went to the police station to report, and then went to Gangwon Province, where he had many memories with his family, only to return as a cold corpse." He pleaded, "Please help ensure that laws are established and revised so that no more victims or bereaved families arise."

File photo. / Photo by Yonhap News

According to reports, the Icheon Police Station in Gyeonggi Province arrested Mr. B, the delivery agent, based on the contents of Mr. Lim's suicide note and clues left by Mr. Lim before his death.

Mr. B claimed that he thought he was simply receiving bond documents from the bank and collecting money from debtors to deposit it, asserting that he did not know it was a voice phishing crime. Mr. B was also an instructor who taught students at a university for 10 years.

Mr. B is currently indicted for participating in a total of 15 voice phishing-related crimes, including Mr. Lim's case.

※ If you have difficult concerns such as depression or know family or acquaintances going through such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour expert counseling through suicide prevention hotlines 1577-0199, Hope Phone 129, Lifeline 1588-9191, and Youth Phone 1388.

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