A Series of Public Official Impersonation Scams... Anseong City Issues Warning

Anseong City in Gyeonggi Province has issued a warning as cases of impersonation scams involving individuals posing as public officials are rapidly increasing in the region.

Anseong City recently urged citizens and related business representatives to exercise particular caution, stating that there has been a surge in fraud cases where scammers impersonate Anseong City Hall officials and demand advance payments as a condition for supplying goods.

The impersonators are known to use business cards featuring the names and official phone numbers of actual Anseong City officials, pretending to be public servants. They typically induce victims to pay in advance by promising to purchase and supply goods.

The city also explained that there have been cases where scammers cleverly manipulate caller IDs to display numbers resembling Anseong City’s administrative phone numbers, such as those beginning with '678-○○○○'. In these instances, although the last digits match the city’s official numbers, the prefix includes numbers like "00," raising suspicions that the calls are not originating from within the country.

A city official stated, "Anseong City never requests money under the pretext of goods supply or contracts under any circumstances, so we ask all businesses to be especially vigilant to prevent any damage from occurring."