Korean Man's Photo Stolen to Extort 100 Million Won... Suspect Found to Be Unemployed Married Chinese Man
Impersonating Professionals Such as Lawyers and Doctors
Romance Scam Targeting 39 People Over 4 Years... Caught After Report by 22-Year-Old Woman
Heo Gan-seong, a resident of Hubei Province, China, carried out romance scam fraud targeting 39 women from 2016 to 2020, extorting approximately 100 million won. Photo by Yonhap News
View original image[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Juri] A Chinese man who stole photos of a Korean man and swindled 560,000 yuan (approximately 111.57 million KRW) from 39 women was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison and fined 30,000 yuan (approximately 5.98 million KRW).
On the 27th, according to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP), the China Court Judgment Database, China Judgments Online, released a verdict from a court in Hubei Province regarding a 'romance scam'.
A romance scam is a new type of fraud combining 'romance' and 'scam', where the perpetrator approaches victims on social networking services (SNS) pretending to seek a romantic partner, gains their trust, and then extorts money.
According to the verdict, Heo Ganseong, a resident of Hubei Province, China, carried out romance scam fraud targeting 39 women from 2016 to 2020. Heo impersonated professionals such as lawyers and doctors, and created fake profiles using photos of two handsome Korean men downloaded from the internet to introduce himself.
In reality, Heo Ganseong is an unemployed man with three children.
His crimes were uncovered when the last victim, a 22-year-old woman, lost her entire savings and reported to the police in May 2020. It is reported that none of the victims ever met him in person.
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Meanwhile, cases of romance scams have been steadily increasing recently in China. Last month, a 29-year-old married model was arrested by Shanghai police on charges of extorting over 300,000 dollars (approximately 430 million KRW) from 18 men.
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