 A Salvation Army member hosts a street donation campaign for earthquake victims in Japan in Myeong-dong, downtown Seoul, Friday. The number of people joining “help Japan” campaigns is soaring, while some scammers were caught reaping illicit gains through bogus relief drives. / Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jin |
By Kim Tae-jong, Park Si-soo
Scammers have reaped illicit gains through bogus relief campaigns in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan last Friday, police said, warning the public to be careful when donating, especially to sites on the Internet.
Two Koreans were caught running an online fundraising campaign for quake-stricken Japan with a bank account falsely named as one acknowledged by the Japanese Red Cross, police said Friday.
Seodaemun Police Station said it had apprehended the two employees of a Japan-based ad company’s office in Seoul for collecting 2.75 million won ($2,440) from hundreds of people in a deceptive campaign on Twitter.
They posted a message encouraging donations for quake victims in Japan on the social-networking website last Monday, listing a bank account number opened for the event as one acknowledged by the Japanese Red Cross.
“We would like to take the disaster as an opportunity to approach the ‘close yet distant’ country,” they said on the Twitter account, referring to Koreans’ deep-rooted antagonism against Japan due to its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
The message was delivered to some 70,000 Twitter users and hundreds of people reacted positively, police said.
Police confirmed that neither the international charity group nor the Japanese Embassy in South Korea has opened or acknowledged any bank account to run a fundraising campaign here.
The suspects just sent a letter explaining their plan for the event to the Red Cross without seeking approval first, police said.
Police have frozen the account and are closely monitoring suspicious online messages. The suspects denied allegations against them, police said.
To launch a fundraising campaign in South Korea, campaigners are required to obtain approval from the Ministry of Public Administration and Security or head of the provincial government.
Many other countries also deal with bogus donation campaigns for quake victims. The American Red Cross advised the public to be cautious of scammers. The Salvation Army also warned donors to beware of a fake email appeal which asks for donations for relief efforts in Japan.
Airline ticket scams
Airline ticket scammers also have preyed on Korean residents and students in Japan desperately seeking ways to leave after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the country last week.
Scams prevailed as a number of panicking Koreans had difficulty getting airline tickets home amid the mass exodus.
Internet community sites of Korean students studying in Japan are filled with messages posted by victims such frauds.
A student using the Internet ID “Jeongji.eun” posted an article on the Daum online community website of Korean students in Japan, Wednesday, saying she was cheated in an airline ticket scam.
“While I was searching for a way to get a ticket home on the Internet, I saw a message saying two suddenly cancelled tickets were available. Introducing himself as an employee of a travel agency, he requested me to send him a copy of my passport and transfer 760,000 won ($674),” she said.
But the student’s parents found out that it was a lie when they checked the availability of the ticket through the travel agency which the man said he worked for.
“When my parents called and asked if they could talk to the man, the travel agency said there was no such person by that name working there,” she said.
The message was followed by replies from other Internet users who had similar experiences when they tried to get tickets, and some of them said they actually transferred money but didn’t receive anything.
“That’s the way I got into trouble,” another Internet user with ID Goyunsik posted. “I should have been more careful, but I just sent the money to the man because I just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.”
Local travel agencies advise people not to buy unauthorized tickets, saying airline tickets are not sold by individuals.
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