Gang of Loan Scam Extracting Personal Information for Micro-Payments... 300 Million KRW Collected and Sent to Prosecution

A gang that swindled 300 million won by opening USIM cards using personal information obtained under the pretense of loans, then purchasing gift certificates through small payments and reselling them, has been handed over to the prosecution.

On the 14th, the Gangbuk Police Station in Seoul announced that they had sent 11 people, including the ringleader Ahn (23), to the prosecution on charges of fraud and organizing a criminal group. Among them, six were detained.

According to the police, from June 2021 to June this year, they deceived victims by advertising on social networking services (SNS) and phone calls, claiming there was a "government-supported guaranteed loan product for ordinary people," and obtained personal information such as resident registration numbers and mobile phone numbers to open USIM cards under the victims' names.

Using the USIM cards they opened, they purchased mobile gift certificates and children's toys through small payments, then sold them online at prices lower than market value to gain criminal profits. The number of victims was 312, and the amount of damage was identified as 310 million won.

The ringleader Ahn distributed the profits to the members as monthly salaries and spent the remaining money on entertainment expenses. The police applied charges of organizing a criminal group as they found that the gang operated systematically by dividing roles into purchasing team, sales team, and inventory management team.

The police seized about 1,300 purchased items and 2,600 USIM chips. Based on this, the police believe there may be additional victims and plan to continue the investigation. A police official said, "Recently, crimes involving obtaining personal information under the pretense of providing loans by impersonating financial institutions have been occurring, so special caution is required," and added, "When proceeding with a loan, you should verify whether the company is officially registered through the Financial Services Commission or other authorities."

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