Posing as Women on Dating Apps... Gang Sentenced for Defrauding Over 40,000 People of More Than 1.1 Billion Won

Pretending to Be a Woman and Falsifying Personal Information... Approaching Men
Opening an Office, Hiring Staff... Organizing and Teaching Crime Methods Systematically

A group that impersonated women and recorded false personal information on a dating app to deliberately approach men was sentenced to imprisonment. They are accused of extorting approximately 1.1 billion won from 40,000 people using dating app points.

[Asia Economy Culture Young Intern Reporter] A group that pretended to be women on dating applications (apps) and deceived others by providing false personal information to feign intentions of dating or meeting has been sentenced to imprisonment and suspended imprisonment. They swindled about 40,000 people out of over 1.1 billion won.

The Daegu District Court Western Branch, 5th Criminal Division (Judge Kim Ok-hee) sentenced A (27) and B (28), who were indicted for fraud and other charges, to three years in prison each, and the middle manager C (22) to two years in prison on the 25th. A and B opened an office and acted as bosses, hiring employees and setting working hours, targets, and performance goals. It was revealed that they systematically continued their fraudulent activities by educating others on the methods of the crime in this way.

They also hired middle managers to recruit new employees, provide training on the criminal methods, and manage the office, while collecting money from employees under the pretext of seat fees and other charges. To prevent their methods from being exposed to the authorities, they required employees not to commit crimes individually outside the office and mandated a minimum of three months of work. Violations resulted in forfeiture of deposits or penalties. Seventeen employees who participated in the crimes received sentences ranging from four to eight months in prison with suspension and community service.

From September 2020 to January this year, A and others used dating apps to approach men by pretending to be women or using aliases, providing false personal information to give the impression of willingness to date or meet.

The app's structure awards points to women each time a man initiates a conversation, and women earn income by exchanging these points. They induced conversations and tricked victims into purchasing points and other items. The number of victims was 41,798, and the amount defrauded was approximately 1.1 billion won.

The court explained the sentencing, stating, "The victims have not been compensated, and the defendants' guilt is serious as they used stolen personal information or rented accounts for the crimes," and "considering that the defendants admitted their wrongdoing and showed remorse."

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