"Trying to Send a Gift..." Their Method That Works for Both Men and Women

Impersonation Varies by Victim's Occupation, Nationality, and Gender
Relatively Low Punishment Severity... Institutional Limitations
Experts Say "There Must Be Mechanisms to Draw Out Victims"

The so-called 'romance scam,' in which perpetrators approach victims through social networking services (SNS) online and then demand money under the pretense of a romantic relationship, is on the rise. A recent study revealed that many of these scammers use tactics such as changing their nationality, occupation, and even gender.

On the 3rd, according to academia, Professor Park Mirang of the Department of Police Science at Hannam University recently published a paper containing these findings in the academic journal 'Korean Criminology.' In the paper, Professor Park analyzed 73 first-instance court rulings where defendants were found guilty of romance scam crimes.

The analysis showed that the most commonly used romance scam scenario, accounting for 57% of cases, was the tactic of requesting payment for costs incurred in sending money and gifts. Cases where the scammer appealed to difficult personal or family circumstances to demand money accounted for 19%, followed by requests to cover costs for storing luggage at 15%.

[Image source=Pixabay]

The perpetrators mostly impersonated various occupations, nationalities, and genders depending on the victim. One perpetrator posed as an 'American doctor planning to visit Korea for medical treatment,' a 'consultant living in Chicago,' and a 'Korean-American female soldier deployed in Syria,' extorting money under these guises. Another impersonated alternately as a 'woman working at a Polish oil company,' a 'senior female executive at the UK Financial Supervisory Authority,' and a 'US military general stationed in Afghanistan.'

The most commonly impersonated occupation was military personnel at 32%, followed by doctors (15%), flight attendants (2%), and office workers (2%). The most frequently used nationality was American at 43%, with South Africa, the UK, Yemen, and France also commonly used.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Cases mixing male and female identities accounted for 25%. Professor Park explained, "Perpetrators created profile genders regardless of their actual gender and tailored these to suit the victim."

Recently, Jeon Cheongjo (27), who was known as the remarriage partner of former national fencing athlete Nam Hyunhee (42) and was arrested and indicted on charges of investment fraud involving billions of won, also impersonated a 'wealthy woman in her 20s seeking marriage' on a dating app and forged an ID card to pose as a man to extort money.

Meanwhile, according to the National Intelligence Service, from January to October this year, a total of 111 romance scam reports were received at the NIS 111 call center. The confirmed damage amount from these cases reached approximately 4.86 billion won. The damage from romance scams surged from 930 million won in 2018 to 3.96 billion won last year. As of October this year, it is already 5.2 times that of 2018.

The damage amount was under 1 billion won but sharply increased around 2021. Experts believe that the rapid growth of online dating applications and the normalization of non-face-to-face contact culture following the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a surge in romance scam crimes.

Jeon Cheong-jo, who caused a sensation with a fraud scheme amounting to 3 billion won, was brought out to the Songpa Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 10th last month and escorted to the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The individual damage amount ranged from a minimum of 20,000 won to a maximum of 1.38 billion won. The average damage amount was about 100 million won. Large-scale damages of over 200 million won (21%) and between 50 million and 100 million won (21%) were the most common. Damages between 10 million and 30 million won (16%) and between 100 million and 200 million won (15%) followed.

The problem is that victims have few ways to seek redress. Many victims suffer mental distress due to social stigma.

In the case of voice phishing victims, immediate payment suspension can be requested by asking financial institutions to block account transactions under the Telecommunications Fraud Damage Relief Act, and penalties are relatively severe under the Electronic Financial Transactions Act. In contrast, romance scam crimes are treated as general fraud, resulting in relatively lighter penalties. To address these institutional limitations, the 'Multiple Fraud Crime Prevention Act' was proposed in August 2020 but is still pending in the National Assembly.

Professor Park emphasized, "Romance scam crimes can be uncovered through reports, but victims tend to hide more than in other fraud cases," adding, "There must be social mechanisms to encourage victims to report and social preventive measures similar to those for voice phishing crimes."

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