Members of an organization that committed corporate-style voice phishing and other online fraud crimes based in countries such as Cambodia have been brought to trial.
The Hongseong branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (Director General Kim Hyeon-woo) said on the 12th that it had indicted 53 members of a corporate-style international voice phishing ring based in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia and Thailand, on charges including violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud). Of them, 45 were caught and detained by Cambodian authorities and were repatriated to Korea on the 18th of last month.
According to prosecutors, A, 25, and 53 others took part in telecommunications financial fraud at the call center of an international voice phishing organization run in Cambodia and Thailand by B, a Chinese citizen of Korean descent known as "Bu-geon," from June last year to July this year. Prosecutors identified ringleader B, obtained an arrest warrant, and requested a Red Notice from Interpol.
The organization has about 200 members and is composed of a ringleader, subordinate ringleaders, Deputy Minister, senior and junior team leaders, and a phishing team. The phishing team operated with a "chatter" to lure victims, "TM" in charge of phone lures, a "killer" to induce deposits of victim funds, and a "Head of Team" to provide training on methods and manage performance.
Prosecutors said the ring also dispatched members to other groups active in Southeast Asia to learn new voice phishing techniques. The crimes they committed included romance scams, phone-based financial fraud impersonating prosecutors, coin investment scams, and "no-show scams" impersonating government offices.
There were 110 victims, and the ring took about 9.4 billion won. They deceived victims into thinking their credit card issuance was tied to a crime, then posed as prosecutors and took 6.01 billion won from them. They also claimed that a major virtual asset exchange was about to list a coin and handed out fake coins, taking 470 million won.
The romance scam used a dating app. Using photos created with deepfake technology and the voices of female members, they lured men and said, "You need a site verification fee to meet," taking 2.73 billion won.
By impersonating local government officials and pretending to place large orders with nearby stores, then asking them to purchase goods from a specific company on their behalf, they swindled 180 million won. After taking over the case from police, prosecutors additionally identified about 420 million won in criminal revenue.
They also used a "multi-level marketing" method when recruiting members. A member who had long served as a counselor in the organization operated as a domestic recruiter, and several acquaintances in a specific region joined the ring. In this process, the organization paid $600 for recruiting one member.