[Exclusive] Agency Employee Diverts 78 Million KRW via Small Payment Fraud Targeting Elderly, Sent to Prosecution

"Phone help" promise followed by small payment fraud by store employee who took phones
Extorted over 78 million won from 54 victims
Repeated small payment scams targeting vulnerable groups
Police advise "Be suspicious if strangers ask for your phone"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] There has been a series of cases where vulnerable groups such as elderly people or disabled individuals who are not familiar with smartphone use are tricked into lending their phones, and money is stolen through microtransactions.

On the 27th, the Gunpo Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced that they recently arrested and sent to prosecution Kim Mo (27), an employee at a mobile phone agency, on charges of computer-related fraud for deceiving foreigners and elderly people into handing over their phones and then making microtransactions to steal about 78 million KRW.

Kim is accused of luring customers to visit the store by offering discounts or services as bait, then deceiving them by pretending to check their phones and stealing money through microtransactions. Investigations revealed that he embezzled approximately 77.93 million KRW by making payments for cultural gift certificates and game currency on the phones of 54 victims using this method.

The police began investigating after receiving damage reports from dozens of victims who discovered large sums had been charged via microtransactions without their knowledge. The agency where Kim worked was operated by his older brother and reportedly closed after the incident. The police also investigated Kim’s older brother for possible complicity but found no evidence to consider him an accomplice. Kim himself stated during police questioning that he committed the crimes alone.

Earlier in March, a man in his 30s was caught by police after staying at motels around Busan and Gyeongnam and borrowing smartphones from elderly owners to make microtransactions amounting to tens of millions of won in game currency. He approached victims claiming his phone was broken and made 24 payments totaling 45.35 million KRW in game currency before being caught.

Last month, a man in his 20s was arrested for extorting 2.5 million KRW through microtransactions after approaching a person with intellectual disabilities. He and his girlfriend built a relationship with the victim via Facebook around October last year and met at a karaoke room in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. They then committed the crime by purchasing multiple KTX train tickets to Busan on the victim’s phone and refunding the money to their own account.

A police official advised, "If someone you don’t know tries to take your phone, you should be suspicious, and even if you lend it, watch closely nearby while they use it. If you suspect crimes such as microtransaction fraud, please contact the police immediately."

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