"Making Money and Providing Shelter" - Gang Arrested for Luring Runaway Youths into Fraud Scheme

Over 100 People, 19 Million Won, and Assault on a Mentally Disabled Runaway

Evidence of criminal facts obtained by Masan Dongbu Police Station, Gyeongnam.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Five people in their 20s, including Mr. A, who exploited runaway teenagers for crimes, were arrested by the police.

The Masan Eastern Police Station of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 6th that they arrested two people including Mr. A, transferred one of the remaining three who is currently imprisoned for another crime for re-investigation, and sent two others to prosecution without detention.

According to the police, Mr. A and others committed cyber fraud crimes by using so-called "runaway fams," groups of runaway teenagers who rent one-room apartments or motels and live together like a family.

From December 2021 to February this year, they posted recruitment messages for runaway fams on SNS saying, "You can earn money and get food and lodging," luring runaway teenagers and runaways with intellectual disabilities.

Evidence of criminal facts obtained by Masan Dongbu Police Station, Gyeongnam.

They are accused of having the runaways open mobile phone lines and bank accounts in their own names, then using these to deceive about selling used items such as game items and mobile phones, swindling about 19 million won from around 100 people.

The group abandoned and fled from a runaway with intellectual disabilities when they became useless, and when the runaway revealed the crime on SNS, they lured him near Gimhae City and collectively assaulted him.

During the police investigation, it was revealed that three of them, including Mr. A, used aliases in front of the runaways and thoroughly concealed their crimes by having the victims withdraw the swindled money themselves to evade law enforcement tracking.

Upon confirming additional damages caused by them during the investigation, the police plan to continue the investigation by utilizing the nationwide police information network to find further offenses.

The Masan Eastern Police Station intends to thoroughly investigate whether there are adults who exploit runaway teenagers with immature judgment for crimes when minors’ accounts or mobile phones are used in non-face-to-face internet fraud crimes.

A representative of the Eastern Police Station said, "Crimes where accounts are obtained from teenagers under the pretext of part-time jobs and directly used for crimes or as channels through which criminal proceeds pass are frequent," adding, "We will conduct crime prevention classes targeting teenagers to prevent them from being exposed to crimes."

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