'Why Is Newspaper Paper Coming Out There?' Money Envelope Received at Direct Transaction Site, Opened Later...

Checking the Envelope While Going to Deposit Cash
As the Market Grows, Fraud Incidents Increase During Transactions

The secondhand trading market is experiencing rapid growth. As the market expands, disputes between sellers and buyers, as well as fraud incidents, continue to occur during peer-to-peer transactions. Recently, a story about being scammed with a money envelope during a secondhand transaction has sparked public outrage among netizens.

On the 3rd, user A posted the story on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "If you receive a money envelope during a direct transaction on Danggeun (a secondhand trading platform), check it immediately on the spot," and added, "If you check it at home like I did, you'll get a newspaper." Along with the post, A shared two photos. The photos showed several pieces of newspaper cut to the size of cash inside a paper envelope.

On the 3rd, user A, who posted the story on X (formerly Twitter), said, "If you receive an envelope of money through a direct transaction on Danggeun (a secondhand trading platform), check it immediately on the spot," and added, "If you check it at home like I did, you'll end up with newspaper." Along with the message, they shared two photos. [Photo by X (formerly Twitter)]

A sold four pieces of clothing and one bag to B through a direct secondhand transaction platform. During the transaction, even though A said, "It's easier to receive money via bank transfer," B said, "I brought cash," and opened the envelope to show the contents. When A put down the items held in both hands to receive the money, B said, "I'll put the money in the bag for you."

After parting ways with B, A checked the envelope on the way to deposit the cash. He said, "The envelope was thick, so I opened it and found newspaper inside. I went back to the subway station, but B had already fled," adding, "I did check the money during the transaction. It seems like B brought two envelopes." A also mentioned that he reported B to the police.

Netizens who read the story responded with various comments such as, "I don't know what kind of nerve that is," "It's a classic money envelope scam," "Did they really think they wouldn't get caught?" and "It's better not to do secondhand trading."

9 out of 10 Secondhand Trading Scams Occur in Delivery Transactions

Unlike A’s face-to-face scam case, Danggeun Market, a leading local community platform in Korea, analyzed secondhand trading scam data around July last year and found that over 87% of scams occurred in non-face-to-face delivery transactions. Nearly 9 out of 10 cases happened in non-face-to-face settings, emphasizing that the key to preventing fraud is, at least, 'face-to-face direct transactions.'

This investigation analyzed all reported cases from March to June last year where the police cooperated with Danggeun Market’s investigations. Danggeun Market disclosed this data for public interest to help users conduct safe transactions, considering all possible situations that may arise during secondhand trading. The most common type of non-face-to-face scam involved inducing advance payments by claiming to conduct delivery transactions but not sending the goods. Additionally, department store gift certificates and mobile gifticons were major targets. Another common method was directing users to fake secure payment pages created fraudulently to request money transfers.

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