[Monday Column] ‘Highly profitable part-time job trap’… The moment you become an accomplice to voice phishing crime

Recently, voice phishing crimes have become increasingly sophisticated. In the past, there were many relatively simple forms such as ‘loan fraud calls’ or ‘threat calls impersonating prosecutors’, but now it is evolving into a method of using ordinary citizens as ‘tools of crime.’

In particular, cases of recruiting people to participate in voice phishing crimes under names such as ‘high-paying part-time job’ or ‘part-time errand job’ are rapidly increasing on famous job search sites and SNS that everyone uses.

In fact, a client who visited the author not long ago applied for a part-time job to help with the household budget, believing an advertisement on a popular social media site called “a simple online side job.” The company asked for the client’s resident registration card photo, contact information, bank account, etc. for recruitment and work.

The client performed this as a simple task of transmitting the number ‘1’ at a set time. A few days later, more than 10 million won was deposited into the client's account and then automatically withdrawn. The company's finance team explained that the deposit was for a business test. However, this was a typical voice phishing money laundering process, and in the end, the client realized that he was unknowingly involved in the crime, informed his family about this, and surrendered himself to the police.

Clients involved in such crimes often say, “I thought it was simply a matter of delivering the company’s money.” However, these acts can be classified as transfer of cannon accounts, withdrawals, or forwarding, and can be punished for violating the Telecommunications Fraud Damage Refund Act (Telecommunications Financial Fraud), the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, or the Crime Proceeds Concealment Regulation Act.

This criminal structure is meticulously designed, and recently, phishing methods have been on the rise by sending text messages containing URLs to job seekers who approached them after seeing online advertisements such as ‘300,000 won per day high-profit part-time job, working from home’ or by luring them through 1:1 mobile messengers. Afterwards, they request a copy of your ID card or account information and then use it to commit crimes. In addition, as a typical technique, cash is delivered in the name of ‘transportation of company funds’, ‘salary payment work’, and ‘quick service payment delivery’. Victims either provide personal and account information for money laundering without their knowledge, or become a collection agent or delivery agent, and are ultimately subject to criminal punishment.

One of my clients started working part-time through a close friend's introduction to earn living expenses, and although he only received about 1 million won in actual part-time work expenses, he was arrested and tried in custody on charges of acting as a collection agent for a large voice phishing organization.

When you come across a part-time job recruitment post on the Internet, you must check whether the company is trustworthy. Check the company address, business registration, official contact information, etc., and be immediately suspicious if it asks for personal ID, account information, OTP number, etc. No matter how close you are to an acquaintance, you should not be quick to be suspicious even if they suggest a part-time job with high profits and ask for your account and ID card without telling you the exact details of the job. In particular, you should keep in mind that statements such as “All you have to do is send the money” or “Please do the banking for me” are typical voice phishing techniques.

Recently, voice phishing crime has evolved into an organized crime that recruits members based overseas, such as Cambodia and China. It is also advertised as a high-profit part-time job on famous job search sites and social media, and people who are new to society, students, and job seekers in need of quick money are involved in the crime without even knowing exactly what they are doing.

Voice phishing is not just a scam, but a serious crime that destroys trust in the entire society. In order to avoid becoming a victim or participant in crime, you must above all be wary of the sweet temptation of “easy and quick money.”

[View full article]
[Monday Column] ‘High-profit part-time job trap’… The moment you become an accomplice to voice phishing crime (Shortcut)