Voice phishing with 120 million victims, ‘cash collection scheme’... ‘2 years and 3 months in prison’, court arrest

Most of the victims were ordinary people, and their entire assets were swindled.
Chief Judge Shin Jeong-il said, “It plays an essential role as a cash collection method in completing the crime... and severe punishment is inevitable.”
Victim’s legal representative: “Extreme damage caused by crime targeting ordinary people... A case that proves the intentionality of fraud”

A court ruling sentenced a member of a voice phishing (telephone financial fraud) crime organization who was in charge of cash collection and was accused of stealing approximately 120 million won in cash, and detained him in court.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Pyeongtaek Branch of the Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Shin Jeong-il) sentenced Mr. A, a member of a voice phishing organization, to '2 years and 3 months in prison' on the 16th of last month and detained him on charges of violating the Special Act on Prevention of Damage from Telecommunications and Financial Fraud and Refund of Damages.

Mr. A was charged with telecommunications financial fraud by acting as a cash collector for a voice phishing criminal organization from around August to December 2023.

Mr. A received tens of millions of won in cash each from four people, including victim B, who was deceived by phone lies from a voice phishing organization member, such as "I am Kim Young-joo, a manager at the Financial Supervisory Service. An account in your name was involved in a crime," and "I am Prosecutor Kim Su-gil of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. To prove that you are a victim of identity theft, I will send an employee, so deliver the cash."

The total amount of money misappropriated by Mr. A in this way amounted to 118 million won.

The Pyeongtaek branch of the Suwon District Court, which heard this case, found Mr. A guilty and stated the reason for sentencing, saying, “Voice phishing is a planned and organized crime against an unspecified number of victims and continues to cause extensive damage,” and “Even if the defendant did not lead the crime, since he played the role of a cash collection agent essential to the completion of the crime, a correspondingly severe punishment is inevitable.”

Attorney Lee Jong-hyun of Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan), who is the legal representative of victim B in this case, said, "Perpetrators who stand trial for voice phishing fraud crimes are usually low-level gang members, and in this case, they defend the charges by claiming that they had no criminal intent. However, the victim is in a situation where the crime has caused such great damage that it is impossible to live a daily life. The reality is that most of the victims are ordinary people and they are not able to properly recover from the damage after the crime. The victim in this case was also defrauded of all his assets. “It’s a case,” he said.

Attorney Lee Jong-hyun continued, “In the case of the defendant in this case, he has been continuously communicating with other accomplices through SNS, and based on this, he emphasized that it was not a simple part-time job.” He added, “It appears that the court also judged that the defendant’s actions were intentional in fraud.”

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