7 Types of 'Malicious Fraud' Including Jeonse Scams: 40,000 Arrested in One Year, 2,990 Detained

The police have cracked down on 'malicious fraud' such as jeonse fraud over the past year, arresting about 40,000 people.

The National Police Agency announced on the 20th that from August 16 last year to the 31st of last month, they investigated 31,142 cases of malicious fraud, arrested 39,777 criminals, and detained 2,990 of them.

The police categorized seven types of fraud as malicious fraud for investigation: jeonse fraud, telecommunication financial fraud such as voice phishing, virtual asset pyramid schemes, cyber fraud, insurance fraud, other organized frauds including investment, business, and transactions, and high-value fraud involving damages of 500 million KRW or more.

Looking at the arrest status by type, the number of arrests for jeonse fraud, insurance fraud, and high-value fraud all increased compared to the previous year.

Regarding jeonse fraud, a total of 5,087 people were arrested, including 35 organizations such as 14 capital-free gap investment groups owning 11,854 houses nationwide and 21 jeonse loan organizations that embezzled 78.8 billion KRW in jeonse funds. Last year, 884 people were arrested, and this year, 4,203 people were arrested from January to July alone.

The number of arrests for insurance fraud also increased by 12.5% compared to the same period last year (4,904), reaching 5,515. In the case of high-value fraud, 1,768 people were arrested, a 31.6% increase from 1,353 last year.

Last year, the crime proceeds tracking personnel from city and provincial police agencies were transferred to the Investigation Division 2 of the National Police Agency, resulting in seizure and confiscation of malicious fraud proceeds. As a result, the amount of recovered damages reached 263.2 billion KRW, a 39.8% increase compared to 188.2 billion KRW in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the police plan to establish dedicated investigation teams for major economic crimes in city and provincial police agencies nationwide. Additionally, through a business agreement with the Financial Supervisory Service, they will receive information on illegal activities in the capital market, and thus plan to first organize dedicated financial crime investigation teams in areas with concentrated financial sectors such as Seoul, southern Gyeonggi, and Busan.

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