This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report site at 10:50 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2026.
It was found that more than 3,000 jeonse scams occurred in Seoul in 2025.
According to the Seoul city government on the 4th, there were a total of 3,304 jeonse scams last year. By district, Gwanak had the most with 801 cases. It was followed by ▲ Gangseo 428 ▲ Dongjak 394 ▲ Geumcheon 288 ▲ Dongdaemun and Yeongdeungpo 201.
A jeonse scam refers to landlords, builders, brokers, and other parties to a jeonse contract deliberately deceiving tenants and not returning their jeonse deposits. A representative case is "low-rise apartment king" Jin, a person surnamed Jin (54), who, from Nov. 2016 to Sept. 2019, collected 42.6 billion won in jeonse deposits from hundreds of people through zero-capital gap investments (sales with jeonse in place). Jin was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial.
Among the districts with many jeonse scams last year, all five except Geumcheon are below Seoul's average age. That suggests many victims were likely younger.
Also, a large share of the damage occurred in non-apartments such as low-rise apartments and officetels. As of the end of 2024, the share of multi-household, multi-family, and row houses among all dwellings was higher than the Seoul average (35.6%) in Geumcheon (51.6%), Gwanak (49.3%), Gangseo (39.5%), and Dongjak (39%).
This year as well, a ring accused of using relatives' names to build seven multi-household dwellings around Gwanak and siphoning off about 7.3 billion won in lease deposits from 49 victims was caught by police and is under arrest investigation.
At least the annual number of jeonse scams in Seoul rose from 2,502 in 2023 to 4,198 in 2024, then fell to 3,304 last year. While special crackdowns on jeonse scams may have had an effect, the broader view is that the decline is more due to a decrease in jeonse contracts themselves.
The annual number of jeonse contracts among all dwellings in Seoul peaked at 326,271 in 2021 and then continued to decline to 323,046 in 2022, 307,551 in 2023, 267,942 in 2024, and 251,614 in 2025. That is because, as the government tightened standards for jeonse loans and expanded land transaction permit zones, the shift from jeonse to monthly rent has continued.
As jeonse scams have not been eradicated, investigative authorities plan to conduct focused probes. Police set "all-out response to livelihood economy and financial crimes" as one of this year's national tasks. They also decided to run public campaigns to prevent jeonse scams, voice phishing, and investment "leading rooms."