Police Arrest 65 Voice Phishing Gang Members... Overseas 'Indirect Remittance' Using Gift Certificates and More

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Collection agents and remittance agents who collected voice phishing victim funds and sent them abroad were arrested in large numbers by the police. It was revealed that they circumvented the strengthened voice phishing countermeasures by financial authorities through gift certificates and overseas remittances.

On the 23rd, the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they arrested a total of 65 people, including first-stage collection agents, intermediate collection agents, and remittance agents who collected voice phishing victim funds and sent them abroad, and detained 22 of them.

A voice phishing collector on the street is handing over a paper bag containing gift certificates to another collector. [Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]

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First-stage collection agent Jeong (46) and 38 others are accused of receiving 2.4 billion KRW in victim funds either in cash or by using business registration certificates and business accounts created under false pretenses from April last year to recently, purchasing gift certificates at department stores or marts nationwide, and delivering them to intermediate collection agents (charges: fraud, violation of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act). They mainly used business accounts rather than personal or corporate accounts. They exploited the fact that while establishing a corporation usually takes seven days, a business registration certificate can be issued in one day by simply submitting personal information.

Also, intermediate collection agent Park (41) and 12 others are accused of operating five gift certificate trading offices in the metropolitan area from March to recently, repeatedly transferring 3 billion KRW in victim funds to accomplice accounts and delivering them to remittance agents. The police confirmed that they fabricated SNS conversations and transaction statements to make it appear as if gift certificates were bought and sold in accordance with the transfer transactions, thereby evading account suspension by financial authorities and investigation by law enforcement.

The indirect remittance method used by a voice phishing organization uncovered by the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. [Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]

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Furthermore, remittance agent Lee (33) and 12 others are accused of setting up an overseas direct purchase agency office in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, from December last year to May this year, sending 8.2 billion KRW in laundered victim funds collected from intermediate collection agents nationwide to overseas accounts of the voice phishing organization, and pocketing about 500 million KRW in fees (charges: fraud, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act). It was found that the amounts they sent abroad ranged from 4 million KRW to as much as 700 million KRW per person.

According to the police investigation, as it became difficult to deposit and withdraw criminal proceeds due to strengthened financial authorities’ measures, they used circumvention methods. For example, if ATM withdrawals were difficult, they went to bank counters; if that was also difficult, they chose to purchase gold or gift certificates. In the case of remittances, if account transfers were difficult, they circumvented through virtual asset transactions, virtual account transfers, or overseas remittances.

Recruitment of collectors through KakaoTalk. [Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency]

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Overseas organization members approached people seeking low-interest loans, high-yield part-time jobs, or simple work-from-home jobs through various non-face-to-face channels such as online, offline, and text messages, involving them in the crimes. To those with low credit ratings who found it difficult to get loans from financial institutions, they promised, "If you buy department store gift certificates and increase transaction records, we will arrange low-interest loans from financial institutions." To overseas direct purchase agents in Korea, they promised, "If you launder phishing money collected in Korea as overseas direct purchase agency fees, we will pay a 10% commission," recruiting collection and remittance agents. A police official urged, "People who approach you non-face-to-face offering low-interest loans or so-called 'sweet part-time jobs' should never be trusted easily."

The police said they would share information about the newly identified methods confirmed during the investigation with related agencies such as the National Tax Service and the Financial Services Commission and promote institutional improvements to prevent voice phishing. A police official emphasized, "Ordinary citizens can be easily recruited by voice phishing criminals and severely punished as accomplices, so citizens seeking loans or jobs need to be especially cautious."

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