"‘I'm a Police Officer, Contact Me’ DM Sent by Detective... ‘Is This an Investigation?’ Public Outrage"

Controversy Over Story "Experience During Investigation of Theft Case"

“○○a, this is the police officer. Please contact me."

There is controversy over a police officer investigating a cellphone theft incident at a bar who sent an SNS message in informal language to a woman suspected as a suspect.

Criticism arose because the officer contacted her through SNS containing private information despite being able to reach her by checking her phone number, and repeatedly called the woman’s name in informal language without stating the purpose of the contact.

On the 18th, an anonymous office worker community called 'Blind' posted a message titled 'Received an Instagram direct message (DM) from the police regarding an investigation request.'

[Photo by Online Community]

The female author, Ms. A, who posted the message, said she received an Instagram message on the 16th from a man referring to himself as a ‘police officer’ after having a birthday party at a bar near her home on the 13th.

Ms. A, a bank employee, began, "On the 13th, I had my birthday party on a famous street in my neighborhood. I went home after partying with friends until dawn, and on the 16th, I found a message waiting for me." The message read, "○○a, this is the police officer. Please contact me," along with a phone number.

Startled, Ms. A asked, “Who is this? Why did you send the message three times?” but the sender repeatedly replied, “This is the police officer. Please contact me.” Suspicious, Ms. A said, “He kept calling my name and saying he was the police via DM, so I replied a bit and then immediately blocked him.”

About two hours later, Ms. A received a call from the phone number the man claimed was hers. The call was to summon her as a suspect in the cellphone theft incident that occurred at the bar.

[Photo by Online Community]

Regarding the situation, Ms. A wrote, “As soon as I answered, he asked, ‘Did you go to a certain bar (store name)?’ and said there was a report that a cellphone was lost in the bathroom while my group was in the restroom.” He added, “The CCTV showed me entering the bathroom at that time, so I have to appear at the police station.”

She insisted on her innocence, saying, “(The police officer said) ‘You might have taken it after drinking, but if you took it by mistake, shouldn’t you return it the next day?’ I was already considered a suspect,” and “Feeling wronged, I said ‘It’s really not me,’ and he told me to think carefully with my friends and appear at the police station next week.”

Ms. A expressed frustration, saying, "They could have easily found my number by checking card information, so is it right to send messages like that? It’s not a usual method, right?" She added, "Since it was my birthday, I posted in real time, and (the police officer) was watching it live. I’m very angry about the informal language. It feels offensive."

She was upset not only about being identified as a suspect but also about the police calling her name in informal language and checking her Instagram story, which contained private life unrelated to the investigation.

Ms. A said, "Even if I try to think of it as an MZ generation investigation method, he wasn’t a young officer but seemed to be in his late 30s to 40s. I know someone who works part-time at the bar on Instagram, and it seems he got the information from that person."

According to her, the man was not impersonating the police but was an actual officer. Ms. A verified his identity through the police station’s civil affairs office and confirmed his affiliated police station and department. It was also true that a cellphone theft case had been reported.

Office workers who heard the story advised Ms. A to file a complaint against the police officer. Netizens expressed outrage, saying, "Investigating via Instagram messages and using informal language is outrageous," and "Even if contacting through SNS, shouldn’t they first disclose their affiliation and the reason for contact?"

On the other hand, office workers affiliated with the National Police Agency argued that sending SNS messages during the investigation process to approach was not problematic. They explained, "People say they could just check card company information to find personal information, but that requires a warrant, and the warrant is issued only after sufficient evidence is presented, which takes a long time. So, they seem to have chosen SNS messaging as another voluntary investigation method." At the same time, they admitted, "It was wrong to approach by calling the name in informal language without revealing identity and contact purpose abruptly."

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