A man in his 30s arrested for restoring and exchanging barcode gift certificates in secondhand transactions

300 Victims, Worth 30 Million Won

A man in his 30s was arrested by the police for unauthorized use after restoring a mobile gift certificate with the barcode hidden and uploaded for secondhand transaction app trading.

Gift certificates seized by the police. [Photo by Gwangjin Police Station]

On the 22nd, the Gwangjin Police Station in Seoul announced that they had sent Mr. A, a man in his 30s, to the prosecution on charges of computer-related fraud.

According to the police, Mr. A is suspected of using technical means to fully restore barcodes from photos of mobile gift certificates (where the barcode was either completely covered or slightly exposed) and unlawfully exchanging mobile gift certificates from 300 people. In May, the police conducted a search of Mr. A’s residence in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, and seized a total of 685 paper department store gift certificates worth about 30 million won. Mr. A reportedly stated during the police investigation that he has a "collecting disorder."

To avoid being tracked, Mr. A showed meticulousness by walking long distances on foot and changing masks and glasses in CCTV blind spots. The police identified the suspect after analyzing about 90 CCTV videos over seven months. Through reverse tracking of the serial numbers of the paper gift certificates, they have confirmed 130 victims so far and returned paper gift certificates worth 13 million won.

A police official said, “Even if barcodes are covered or barely exposed during secondhand transactions, suspects can still use the barcodes without authorization,” and added, “It is necessary to be careful not to post barcodes at all.”

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