Six arrested, nine booked in Chinese phone scam ring

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, April 27 (Yonhap) -- A ring of Chinese con artists that
swindled 360 million won (US$270,000) out of 15 South Koreans through
telephone-based financial scams, known as voice phishing, has been broken up,
police investigators said Monday.

The Gangneung Police Station in Gangneung, about 240 km east of Seoul, said six
were arrested and nine booked without detention. Three other members of the
Chinese criminal ring, including the ring leader, have been put on the wanted
list in connection with the financial scam, it said.
Investigators allege that the victims were conned into wiring tens of thousands
of won each into some 500 accounts managed by the ring, after being falsely told
over the telephone that the passwords for their bank accounts had been leaked and
had to be changed.
On April 16, a 64-year-old man living on Wan Island on the south coast lost 59
million won after receiving a fraudulent call from the Chinese con artists,
police said, adding the 14 other incidents occurred across the country.
Police said they are continuing with the investigation and believe there may be
more victims.
They said that many of the arrested or booked Chinese, mostly students studying
in South Korea, were forced to work for the ring after its leaders stole their
IDs and threatened to kill their families in China if they contacted the police.
In South Korea, voice phishing scams are becoming increasingly common as a
growing number of con artists posing as officials with the police, prosecution
and financial institutions are tricking victims, many of them senior citizens,
into going to an ATM and transferring cash after falsely claiming that their
private financial transaction data has been leaked.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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