Defending a Voice Phishing Courier Against an Actual Sentence | Detained as a Courier, Defended With a Suspended Sentence

For the client involved in the voice phishing courier case, finding a part-time job on an online job site became the source of the trouble.

At first, the client worked delivering documents for a base pay of 2 million won plus additional pay of 20,000 to 60,000 won per task,

and after being offered full-time work delivering money, the client thought it was a conversion to a permanent position and began performing the voice phishing work in earnest.

The client made no effort to look into whether the company actually existed or to obtain specific information about the recruiter, and harbored no doubt whatsoever about the cash delivery work.

Because the client was found to have had a conditional awareness of the abnormal nature of the work, the client came under police investigation

Looking at the relevant recent precedents, the courts treat 'whether the person was aware that the conduct would contribute to a crime' as a principal sentencing factor.

In other words, the courts' main standard of judgment was to examine the intent, that is, whether the person was aware that the conduct itself constituted a crime.

Counsel conducted the mitigation defense in the direction of admitting all of the client's relevant facts charged and the facts of the offense and arguing remorse.

In the early part of the police investigation, the client took part thinking it was an investigation as a witness, but realized that the client was in the position of a suspect. The client had a conditional awareness of acting as a voice phishing courier but did not have a definite awareness.

Citing these points, counsel suggested that, rather than arguing not guilty, it was more appropriate to present a mitigation defense citing several favorable sentencing factors.

In connection with the case, counsel conducted a mitigation defense in order to obtain a lighter punishment.

Counsel argued the point that family members and people around the client had submitted reference materials petitioning for leniency, and the point that, although the client had not reached a settlement with all of the victims, the client made a 🔗criminal deposit for the recovery of the victims,

and that the client was supporting an elderly mother and was in very difficult financial circumstances, asking the court to take these and other favorable mitigating circumstances into account.

The client, who responded promptly at an early stage to the voice phishing courier charge, was able to safely avoid detention and an actual custodial sentence.

If you would like to receive assistance with a case involving aiding and abetting voice phishing or the like, we recommend actively seeking the help of a criminal attorney at Daeryun, Korea's 9th-ranked law firm (based on the National Tax Service value-added tax filings for 2025).

If, like the client in this case, you are facing a police investigation in another region, a prompt response is possible because cases can be handled in coordination with offices nationwide.