Subway Bangbae Station Staff's Quick Judgment Protects 80-Year-Old Grandmother's 10 Million Won

Grandmother Found Confused at Locker by Citizen Report, Voice Phishing Suspicion Identified and Reported to Police... "Glad to Protect Valuable Customer Money After Reconsideration... Thanks to Citizen for Quick Report"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] An employee at Bangbae Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 reassured an elderly woman who was about to hand over a large sum of 10 million won to voice phishing criminals and then reported it to the police, preventing a crisis.

According to Seoul Metro (President Kim Sang-beom), at around 10:30 a.m. on the 8th, a man reported to the Customer Safety Office at Bangbae Station on Subway Line 2 that "an elderly woman was showing signs of anxiety in front of the locker."

Deputy Station Manager Choi Jae-pyo, who was on duty, immediately went to the locker and found, as the reporter described, an elderly woman in her late 80s crouching beside the locker with a pale face, clutching a bundle.

Deputy Manager Choi asked the woman, "Grandmother, what is the matter?" The woman, trembling, barely replied, "If I don't put the bundle properly inside the locker, something terrible will happen."

Hearing her words, Deputy Manager Choi immediately suspected a voice phishing scam. Looking around, he also sensed suspicious movements nearby. He first reassured the woman by offering to help operate the locker and deliberately delayed time while promptly reporting the situation to the police.

About 10 minutes later, at around 10:40 a.m., police officers from Bangbae 1 Police Substation arrived at Bangbae Station and protected the elderly woman. Upon checking the bundle, it contained cash amounting to 10 million won in 50,000 won bills. Once the police arrived, the voice phishing criminals immediately hung up the phone with the woman.

Afterwards, the woman was taken to the police station and received assistance to deposit the money back into the bank safely. The voice phishing criminals had obtained a list of recipients of land redevelopment compensation near Bangbae Station and targeted the woman, enticing her by saying, "It is dangerous to keep the money in your bank account as is," leading her to withdraw 10 million won and place it in the locker, but the attempt was thwarted.

Deputy Station Manager Choi Jae-pyo of Bangbae Station said, "I was just trying to kindly help an elderly person who was not familiar with how to use the locker as usual, but after seeing the grandmother’s condition, I thought twice and sensed a crisis. Thanks to immediately reporting the suspected voice phishing, we were able to protect the grandmother’s money. I also thank the citizen who promptly reported the situation to the Customer Safety Office," he said.

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