A fraud crime is occurring in which an employee of singer Nam Jin's agency is impersonated to make group reservations at restaurants and then disappear in Changwon, Gyeongnam.
According to police and the agency on the 12th, on the 8th, a man in his 40s, referred to as A, who operates a meat restaurant in Jungang-dong, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, received a call from a man referred to as B, who introduced himself as an employee of Nam Jin's agency, requesting a reservation for 20 people for the after-party of Nam Jin's 60th anniversary concert.
At that time, B said, "It is difficult to deposit the reservation fee due to company policy; I will pay on the day of the event." Although A was skeptical, he believed B's words since an event commemorating Nam Jin's 60th anniversary was scheduled for the 10th at 6 p.m. B reserved a table for 20 at 8:30 p.m. on the 10th.
Subsequently, A prepared food with the restaurant staff and also made a bouquet and posters for Nam Jin. The next day, B called again, requesting expensive alcohol saying, "Please prepare liquor for Mr. Nam Jin and the concert performers."
The liquor requested was not an item handled by A's restaurant. When A refused, B provided the contact information for a liquor company and asked again to prepare the alcohol in advance, stating that he would pay first. A, believing B's words of "I will definitely go," paid 4.7 million won for the liquor and made a reservation.
However, on the day of the reservation, the 10th, B cut off contact after sending a text message saying, "I have a situation, so I need to cancel the gathering." A did not receive the liquor or the payment from B. He said, "In this recession, small business owners are especially struggling, and receiving such calls makes it unavoidable to be deceived."
It has been identified that there are multiple cases of small business owners in the Changwon area who have fallen victim to similar scams. Another restaurant in the Changwon-Masan area reportedly prepared a large amount of food after receiving a reservation for the "Nam Jin concert after-party" and ended up suffering losses.
According to the Changwon Central Police Station, as of the 11th, there have been three reports from small business owners claiming to have been scammed based on this information. The police believe there may be more victims.
Lu che Entertainment, Nam Jin's agency, also issued a notice stating, "The reservation call from a restaurant claiming that singer Nam Jin will hold an after-party following the concert on May 10 is a voice phishing crime, and we hope that restaurant officials who received reservation calls do not suffer any loss," adding that "Mr. Nam Jin has no after-party planned after the concert."