The police are investigating 50 cases of political party impersonation 'no show' fraud occurring across the country ahead of the June 3 presidential election. By party, there are 36 cases involving the Democratic Party, 9 involving the People Power Party, and 5 others.
Lee Ho-young, acting chief of the Korean National Police Agency, said at a regular police briefing on the 26th that this is a serious fraud that disrupts small business operations and causes psychological and financial harm, and that they will respond rigorously.
The acting chief noted, 'Looking at the communication forms of the 'no show' fraud near military bases, it appears to be a typical overseas organized fraud,' and said that they have designated a specialized investigative unit to focus on the investigation.
The police have designated the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, which specializes in phishing fraud, as the main unit for concentrating on the 'no show' fraud cases. According to the police, the no show fraud cases are conducted from call centers based in Southeast Asia. No show fraud impersonating political parties is similar in form to incidents impersonating celebrities or public officials.
A police official stated, 'The secondary order to buy items that are not handled by the relevant company is a typical form of no show fraud,' and advised that it is best to firmly refuse.
Regarding this presidential election, the police have cracked down on 822 cases of election-related crimes and 946 individuals as of the 23rd. Among these, 195 individuals were caught for the five major election crimes.
The police have arrested 4 individuals with serious charges, transferred 14 individuals to the prosecution, including 2 of those arrested, and did not transfer 23 individuals. Investigations are ongoing for the 909 individuals whose cases have not been resolved. By type, there are 130 for spreading false information, 17 for involvement of public officials in elections, 42 for election violence, and 6 for bribery.
A total of 690 individuals have been detected for damaging campaign banners or posters for presidential candidates, and 12 have been sent for prosecution. Among them, 1 person has been detained. Twelve cases of election crimes using deepfake technology have been assigned to the cyber investigation units of the national and local police agencies for investigation.