Ms. Cho (33, female) lost 21 million won to a travel agency side job scam on May 6. She went to the Suwon Nambu Police Station to report the scam, but only received a discouraging response. The police told her, "It might be difficult to resolve the case," explaining that it was hard to track the perpetrator because a forged bank account was used. Two months later, the police registered Cho's scam case as an "unresolved management case." This means the investigation is effectively suspended because the suspect cannot be identified. Cho said, "Even those involved with the forged bank account claimed they were victims themselves," adding, "Being scammed was infuriating, but it was even harder to accept that recovery and justice were nearly impossible."

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The investigative net, full of holes because it cannot keep up with advances in criminal techniques, is making things even harder for victims of side job scams. Frustrated by inadequate police investigations, many victims quickly conclude that recovery is impossible and give up trying to recover their losses. Some do not inform anyone around them of their losses or take any action, choosing instead to avoid the situation altogether.

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According to the National Police Agency, there were 95,752 cases of "other cyber fraud crimes," which include side job scams, reported last year. The number of such crimes has increased annually, from 39,906 in 2020 to 47,087 in 2021, 65,570 in 2022, and 75,659 in 2023. Even though, since last year, law enforcement agencies have started classifying romance scams and cyber investment scams separately from other cyber fraud crimes, the number of cases has surged as side job scams have spread through social networking services (SNS).

While the number of crimes is increasing, police investigations remain insufficient. Last year, there were 41,115 arrests for other cyber fraud crimes, resulting in an arrest rate of less than 43%. The arrest rate has continued to fall, from 63.2% in 2020, to 59.9% in 2021, 57.7% in 2022, and 47.4% in 2023. A police official stated, "Side job scams mostly occur online or through non-face-to-face channels, and the use of forged bank accounts makes tracking difficult. The types of crimes are also becoming increasingly diverse."

As a result, victims of side job scams are facing the reality of police investigations being suspended. From January to August this year, there were 4,632,904 unresolved management cases, already surpassing last year's total of 4,486,512 cases. The number of such cases has increased each year: 3,826,647 in 2021, 4,038,485 in 2022, and 4,262,453 in 2023.

Mr. Oh (50, male), who suffered a side job scam loss of approximately 4.95 million won, was further scammed for about 17 million won while trying to recover his losses. Mr. Oh was deceived by claims that his losses would be recovered by swapping money from the scammer's forged bank account with cryptocurrency. Provided by Mr. Oh

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Victims of side job scams, neglected by the state, sometimes fall victim to additional scams while seeking alternative ways to recover their losses. Mr. Oh (45, male) lost 4.95 million won to a side job scam during the Chuseok holiday in October. Eager to recover his losses quickly, he contacted various KakaoTalk open chat rooms and Telegram groups, only to be scammed again for an additional 17 million won.

In a KakaoTalk open chat room called "Scam Consultation 24 Hours," he was told that cryptocurrency was needed to swap with money from the scammer's forged bank account, so he transferred 5 million won, but received no response afterward. Oh said, "I was lured by the promise that the case would be resolved faster than through a police investigation, and ended up being scammed again. I barely make enough each month to get by, but after being scammed through a side job, I felt completely lost."

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Many victims do not even attempt to recover their losses, giving up from the start, believing that their efforts will be in vain. Ms. Park (45, female), who lives in Suwon, suffered side job scam losses of about 100 million won but did not apply for a payment suspension at her bank. She frequently saw in news articles and online communities of scam victims that side job scam losses were excluded from payment suspension eligibility. Park said, "When filing a report with the police, I almost asked if payment suspension was possible, but stopped myself. I thought there was no point in asking," adding, "I've seen too many posts saying that recovery is impossible for side job scam victims, so I couldn't even muster the will to try."

Many victims also do not tell those around them about being scammed, fearing social criticism. Ms. Kim (32, female) did not inform her parents or friends that she lost about 15.3 million won to a side job scam in September. Kim said, "If I told my parents, we could try to recover the losses together, but I was afraid they'd think I was foolish and blame me, so I couldn't bring myself to tell them. Above all, I didn't want to hear that I was blinded by greed and failed to make sound judgments. I thought it would be better to deal with the emotional pain alone."

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