Firefighter Catching Fire... 'Voice Phishing Collector' Apprehended

70s Elderly Man Visits Fire Station with 10 Million Won
Firefighter Lures Cash Collector and Hands Him Over to Police

Firefighters who respond to fires have become a topic of interest after it was revealed that they helped prevent voice phishing damage and even assisted in luring and arresting the cash collectors involved.

Firefighters from Yangsan Wondong 119 District Unit
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 5th, Yonhap News and others reported that the Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters announced that on the afternoon of the 29th of last month, firefighters from the Wondong 119 District Unit of Yangsan Fire Station used their quick thinking to prevent a voice phishing incident when a man in his 70s came to the fire station carrying a plastic bag containing 10 million won in cash.

Mr. A, a man in his 70s residing in Yangsan, received a call from a phone fraud group impersonating the Financial Supervisory Service. The caller claimed that a large sum of money suspected to be involved in a crime had been withdrawn from Mr. A’s bank account, and to resolve the issue, he needed to withdraw 10 million won and give it to the Financial Supervisory Service employee.

Startled, Mr. A hurriedly withdrew 10 million won, placed it in a black plastic bag, and was on his way to the designated meeting place. However, suspecting it might be a voice phishing scam, he visited a nearby fire station. Seeing Mr. A hesitating for a long time while talking on the phone, a firefighter approached and asked what was going on. Mr. A handed over the phone, asking the firefighter to listen. When the firefighter identified himself, the caller hung up.

Suspecting voice phishing, the firefighters reassured Mr. A, immediately reported the incident to 112, and accompanied him to the location where the cash was to be handed over. To avoid arousing suspicion from the cash collector, the firefighters brought a pump truck and an ambulance, preparing to respond immediately in case of an emergency.

Upon arrival at the scene, the firefighters met a woman in her 40s suspected of being the cash collector along with Mr. A and asked why she was there. When the woman said, "I was told to come and pick up the item if I gave something," the firefighters invited her to the ambulance to discuss the matter in detail and moved to the fire station district unit. They then served her coffee to calm her down and stalled for time until the police arrived.

Meanwhile, the police who arrived on the scene arrested the woman involved as the cash collector at the district unit office.

Park Jong-hwan, team leader of the Wondong 119 District Unit who accompanied the scene at the time, said, "All our staff are well aware of phone fraud methods, so as soon as we heard Mr. A’s situation, we recognized it as a crime," adding, "Thanks to the teamwork of our staff, we were able to prevent the phone fraud."

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