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| Acting Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok speaks to reporters as he enters the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Thursday. Newsis |
By Jung Min-ho
A small business owner in his 40s was found dead in Busan on Feb. 25. It was later found that he had been swindled out of more than 160 million won ($123,000) by a telephone scammer before committing suicide.
To prevent such tragedies and respond more effectively to voice phishing (or vishing) scams, which have become more sophisticated in recent years, the government will launch a joint investigation team with experts from all relevant agencies.
"We need special measures to counter such crimes, which take not only the victims' money but also, in some cases, their lives … We have found that some voice phishing operations are organized, with gang members involved in them," the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said in a statement Thursday.
Earlier that day, acting Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok told reporters that he will step up efforts to root out such crimes by mobilizing all possible resources in his power.
At least six prosecutors and about 20 investigators from the prosecution will join the team set to be installed at Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office. The National Police Agency, the Financial Supervisory Service, the National Tax Service, the Customs Service and the Korea Communications Commission among others will send officials with relevant expertise there soon.
Voice phishing is a phone scam, in which a scammer tricks people into revealing important personal data such as their credit card password or sending money to an accomplice's bank account. The most well-known trick is pretending to be an investigator and telling people to "cooperate" by, for example, sending money to a safer account.
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| Moon Hong-seong, head of the division of anti-corruption and violent crimes, speaks at a press briefing room in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, southern Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
Since the first such crime was reported in 2006, the number skyrocketed to 30,982 in 2021. The amount of damage last year was 774.4 billion won, tripled from 247 billion won in 2017.
Yet, the number of suspects caught in such cases has decreased since 2019 from 48,700 to 26,400 in 2021, which pressured the government to come up with more effective measures to clamp down on them.
The chief criticism of the government's response has been on its failure to bring the kingpins of such criminal organizations to justice, arresting mostly those at the bottom of the hierarchy.
Last week, the Seoul Southern District Court slapped a Chinese student in Korea with a fine of 4 million won for aiding a voice phishing crime by delivering money from a victim to a criminal ring member, while claiming that he was not aware of the situation. It was the latest of many such convictions of young people who, in many cases, become part of such crimes unknowingly.
The prosecution vowed to focus more on investigating the main culprits of such organizations and seeking more severe punishment from the judiciary.
To do so, the prosecution said it will strengthen international cooperation, especially with authorities in China and the Philippines, where many voice phishing organizations targeting Korean victims are believed to be based.
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