Fake Used Car Listings as Bait '3-Month Pan-Government Special Crackdown' 245 Arrested

Government "Eradicating Illegal Activities in Housing and Used Car Markets"

The government conducted a special crackdown for three months on fake listings used as bait in the housing and used car markets, arresting a total of 245 individuals. Cases were uncovered where the prices of brokerage objects were falsely advertised or fraud was committed during used car sales.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The National Police Agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that from March to May this year, they carried out a government-wide special crackdown to eradicate fake bait listings in the housing and used car sectors, resulting in the arrest of 206 people (95 cases) in the housing sector and 39 people in the used car sector, totaling 245 arrests, with 5 of them detained.

The police applied charges of organized crime to three suspects related to an incident where some jeonse (long-term lease) fraud victims were lured by fake jeonse listings and detained them in March. Additionally, on the 14th, four used car fraudsters were detained for setting up fake websites similar to well-known used car trading platforms, luring victims, and embezzling 360 million KRW.

The National Police Agency stated, "We have confirmed circumstances where some real estate brokerage platforms registered and promoted numerous jeonse fraud listings, including fake listings, and are investigating."

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requested investigations into 48 individuals who posted 5,966 advertisements with indications likely to lead to jeonse fraud among new villa ads through online monitoring of real estate brokerage object display and advertising. They also detected 451 cases of repeated violations by habitual illegal advertisers and notified the relevant local governments.

They identified 40 sales agencies that displayed or advertised jeonse or other listings without qualifications and took measures to prevent their website ads from being exposed on search portals.

Regarding used cars, reporting centers for suspected fake listings were established in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon to receive damage reports. In addition, information on the automobile life cycle is provided, and a Used Car Fake Listing Reporting Center was newly established on Automobile 365.

Meanwhile, the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plan to continue close cooperation and strictly respond to illegal advertisements and various illegal acts such as fraud exploiting them in the housing and used car markets.

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