"I Thought It Was Just a Part-Time Job"... 'Remote Work Bait' Burner Phone Crimes on the Rise

Mr. A, a resident of Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, suffered a setback after accepting an offer for a "KakaoTalk consultation part-time job" through a job search platform. Following instructions that a work line was required, Mr. A opened three lines using the USIM information provided by the other party. Later, he belatedly discovered dozens of outgoing call records that he did not recognize. Some of these calls, such as those impersonating card delivery, were suspected to be voice phishing. Mr. A said, "I thought the lines were for consultation work, and since it was a budget phone plan costing around 10,000 won, I opened them without much thought," adding, "I'm worried that someone may have become a victim." Mr. A reported the incident to the police as soon as he suspected a crime.

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There has been a series of cases where criminals lure people with high-paying part-time or side jobs, obtain their personal information, and then exploit it to open unregistered phones (so-called "burner phones"). These phones are mainly used for criminal purposes, such as sending spam messages or conducting voice phishing scams. Since the person in whose name the phone is registered can become involved in a crime without their knowledge, extra caution is required.

According to the National Police Agency on April 20, the number of identified burner phones related to voice phishing was 4,005 cases in 2021, 4,867 in 2022, 4,427 in 2023, 5,251 in 2024, and 5,457 in 2025, showing an overall increasing trend over the past five years. During this period, 25,426 people were apprehended, and a total of 256,000 burner phones were seized.

The "high-paying part-time job" traps set by criminal organizations to create burner phones or bank accounts have already become commonplace. If you search for high-paying part-time jobs on portal sites, you will find advertisements claiming anyone with a mobile phone can work and offering 99,000 won per task. Job seekers who contact these consultation windows are made to open burner phones or are asked for a bank account number for salary deposit, which is then used as a conduit for criminal proceeds.

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Burner phones are created when a criminal organization, having already obtained USIM information, provides it online so that job seekers open new lines in their own names and then hand them over. It is highly likely that the contact number used to approach the job seeker is also a burner phone. Explanations such as "we have reached the limit for corporate lines" or "a personal line is needed for connecting a tablet" are often used to avoid suspicion. In particular, budget phone plans are cheap, and with service providers dispersed, it is easy to open and close many lines in a short period, a vulnerability that criminal organizations are exploiting.

The problem is that legal responsibility can arise regardless of whether the registered person is aware of the situation. Investigative authorities say that if you provide a phone line to someone else and it is used for a crime, you may be charged with violating the Telecommunications Business Act. Even if you thought it was a simple part-time job, you may end up providing a tool for crime, so caution is necessary. A police official warned, "There is no case in a legitimate hiring process where you are asked to open a USIM or create an account. If you receive such a request, you should suspect possible involvement in a crime."

Experts emphasize the importance of thoroughly managing the registration of communication devices. Oh Yoonseong, a professor of police administration at Soonchunhyang University, said, "The key issue in telecommunications is whose name is on the registration. Whether it is a USIM, a bank account, or a mobile phone, once you provide your name, you could be held responsible." Professor Oh added, "If you find yourself in a similar situation, you should not hesitate to report it to investigative authorities or seek consultation immediately."

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