Multi-Victim Fraud Crime Response Task Force... Police Special Crackdowns in First and Second Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police are launching a 'Task Force (TF) to Respond to Multi-Victim Fraud Crimes.' This initiative aims to fundamentally block intelligent crimes using financial and communication means that have caused harm to many ordinary citizens.

On the 18th, the National Police Agency announced the formation of the Multi-Victim Fraud Crime Response TF to carry out prevention and crackdown activities on multi-victim fraud. The TF, chaired by the Director of the National Investigation Headquarters, will lead major policy initiatives, while each provincial police agency will operate its own TF and dedicated investigation teams led by the head of the investigation department. The police plan to conduct special crackdowns in the first and second halves of this year targeting major multi-victim fraud crimes such as telephone financial fraud, fraudulent fundraising and pyramid schemes. The main crackdown targets include ▲telecommunication financial fraud ▲fraudulent fundraising and pyramid schemes ▲cyber fraud ▲other organized multi-victim frauds. All investigative departments, including investigation, criminal, and cyber units, will participate in the special crackdown.

This response system by the police is aimed at eradicating the rapidly increasing multi-victim fraud crimes. In the case of telephone financial fraud, the damage amount increased from 146.8 billion KRW in 2016 to 700 billion KRW in 2020. Fraudulent fundraising and pyramid schemes rose from 467.4 billion KRW in 2017 to 2.9299 trillion KRW last year, and cyber fraud increased from 83.9 billion KRW in 2016 to 332.6 billion KRW. Last year, the police arrested a total of 112,792 cases and 56,316 suspects through special crackdowns on fraud crimes, detaining 3,278 of them.

The police also plan to revise laws and systems related to preventing multi-victim fraud. They will establish the concept of multi-victim fraud including telephone financial fraud and enact a Multi-Victim Fraud Prevention Act that includes disclosing perpetrators' personal information. Additionally, revisions will be pursued for existing laws such as the ▲Telecommunications Business Act ▲Act on the Return of Damages from Communication Fraud ▲Specific Economic Crimes Act ▲Capital Markets Act. Regarding victim recovery, the police intend to expand confiscation and seizure preservation activities, currently conducted by crime proceeds tracking teams in provincial police agencies, to police stations. Along with psychological counseling for victims, they plan to strengthen cooperation with financial authorities for intelligence gathering and promote awareness to prevent damage. A police official stated, "Once the special investigation teams are designated, we will conduct focused crackdowns," adding, "Outstanding achievements will be rewarded with promotions and other incentives."

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