'Shopping Mall Purchase Agency' New Type of Voice Phishing Rampant... Dozens of Complaints Filed with Police Nationwide

A fraudulent purchase agency text message received by the informant.

"Hello, this is Manager Kang Mina. Due to the increased transaction volume at our shopping mall, we are recruiting staff. Daily pay over 100,000 KRW, beginners can earn an average monthly income of over 2.5 million KRW."

"Hello. This is recruitment manager Kim Yeonsuk! Tasks include writing various review posts for trial groups and giving star ratings, remote work available!! Daily pay: 80,000 to 200,000 KRW or more / Monthly: at least 2.63 million KRW / Incentives: 1 million KRW or more per month."

Recently, voice phishing crimes using this kind of shopping mall purchasing agency method have been rampant. Several victim cases have already been reported to the police, and investigations are underway. Based on the report from victim A, the process of this new type of purchasing agency scam has been reconstructed.

Targeting People Facing Financial Difficulties... Inducing Voluntary Purchases with Victims' Own Funds

Unlike traditional voice phishing where victims transfer money to the criminal’s account or withdraw cash to hand over, the purchasing agency scam involves victims buying products from shopping malls designated by the criminals using their own money and having them delivered to specified addresses. Outwardly, it does not directly ask for money transfers but gives certain missions, promising to return the costs plus a commission upon completion. Since victims are hired as employees performing 'purchasing agency' tasks, they spend their own money buying increasingly expensive items before realizing it is a scam, increasing the amount lost.

The phishing messages they send are enticing. ▲No restrictions on age, education, or gender ▲Flexible working hours (choice of workdays and hours) ▲Guaranteed high income are all attractive conditions. ▲Even no application of the four major social insurances is possible as a side job. In other words, anyone with a bank account balance or who can take out loans and can use the internet or a smartphone becomes their target.

Voice phishing image.

Sequential Guidance: Text Message → KakaoTalk (Individual Mission) → Telegram (Group Mission)

The voice phishing gang initially uses recruitment advertisement text messages. When the victim searches the KakaoTalk ID included in the ad and adds the sender as a friend, then starts a 1:1 chat, the criminals are halfway successful. Victim A also fell for this. The gang members, using the title 'manager,' greet and ask basic information such as name, age, and available working hours. Then, following a prepared manual, they send a series of about ten KakaoTalk messages explaining the job.

"We purchase the quantities required by large online shopping malls at factory prices and sell them at wholesale prices, distributing the margin as profit. Your task is to place proxy orders with the logistics company for the shopping mall orders."

The initial amount was a small sum of about 50,000 KRW. When the target completes the assigned individual mission, the manager checks the accumulated points and converts them to cash for withdrawal. In A’s account, 50,000 KRW used to purchase goods was credited with an additional 10% profit of 5,000 KRW, totaling 55,000 KRW in shopping mall points. Withdrawals to the bank account were possible. At this stage, targets like A drop their suspicions of "Is this a scam?" and actively participate.

A KakaoTalk chat message capture showing a manager advising the informant to try executing a withdrawal and to participate in group work.

"I Can't Harm Others"... Group Missions Exploiting Psychology

At this stage, the manager proposes group missions. Compared to individual missions, these require purchasing much larger quantities of higher-priced items, promising greater profits. The manager encourages switching from KakaoTalk to the more secure Telegram. This marks the end of the first manager’s role on KakaoTalk.

On Telegram, a second manager appears and invites the victim to a group chat with other targets. The group mission requires purchasing much more expensive items, such as home appliances costing several hundred thousand to 2 million KRW. A was assigned a total of 10 group missions, and was warned that if anyone stopped mid-way, points could only be withdrawn after two weeks.

A felt burdened by having to buy expensive items with personal funds but found it difficult to quit midway, thinking that failing to complete assigned orders would harm other members. However, repeated demands for high-priced purchases overwhelmed A. When told that completing at least 5 out of 10 missions would shorten the 14-day withdrawal restriction to 7 days, A was deceived and exhausted the remaining balance in the account to complete 5 missions. Within a few days, A spent over 4 million KRW of personal money to buy assigned items, accumulating 5.83 million KRW in points including profits.

When A tried to convert the accumulated points to cash and withdraw by accessing the shopping mall site, the site was inaccessible. When A asked the manager on Telegram, "The homepage isn’t opening," the manager replied, "The server is currently undergoing error checks, please wait."

Screenshot of KakaoTalk and Telegram conversations where the informant notifies two managers about the closure of the shopping mall site and protests.

The Scam That Didn’t Stop... "Caught by the Financial Supervisory Service"

Soon after, the manager provided another shopping mall website address and asked A to re-register and provide the new ID. After completing registration on the new site, the previously disappeared 5.83 million KRW in points reappeared. Even then, A did not realize another scam was underway. The problem was that withdrawals were not possible immediately. The manager informed that full withdrawals in 10,000 KRW increments would be possible during normal business hours a few days later. When the day came, A tried to withdraw points but failed. A contacted the 'shopping mall customer center' and KakaoTalk support via the channels provided by the manager. Naturally, the customer center was run by the scammers.

The customer center sent forged documents resembling official notices from the Financial Supervisory Service, stating that A was flagged for abnormal income monitoring. It falsely claimed that stamp duty must be paid for a proper investigation and that failure to comply would result in disadvantages for A.

The center continued to deceive A, saying that if unpaid taxes were paid through them, penalties would be waived. They demanded 1.93 million KRW in taxes on the 5.83 million KRW points, promising the company would cover fees. In summary, A spent over 4 million KRW buying items designated by the scammers and received 1.8 million KRW in points, but had to pay 1.93 million KRW in 'taxes' to the scammers to recover any remaining balance.

A screenshot of the KakaoTalk message from Samdang Center shopping mall.

The voice phishing gang had already defrauded over 4 million KRW from A through the purchasing agency scam and attempted to extort an additional approximately 1.9 million KRW under the pretense of taxes. A protested without sending money, but the gang cut off contact. Ten days after receiving the initial job advertisement text message on the 10th of last month, A realized everything had been a scam from the start.

Incheon Seo-gu Simgok-dong Incheon Western Police Station. Photo by Incheon Western Police Station website

Police Confirm Similar Cases... "Apprehending the Criminals Is the Top Priority"

On the 23rd of last month, A filed a complaint with the Incheon Western Police Station. It is known that dozens of similar voice phishing cases disguised as purchasing agency scams have been reported to police stations nationwide.

The National Police Agency is reviewing cases reported to police stations across the country, verifying the owners of KakaoTalk accounts and bank accounts used in the crimes. A police official said, "We will secure as much of the stolen funds as possible from purchasing agency voice phishing scams to help victims recover their losses. However, since we must prove that the suspect’s assets are criminal proceeds after arrest, we are currently focusing on identifying suspects."

A said, "I hope the government at least provides relief measures such as debt repayment deferrals for those who have verifiable scam damages."

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