By Kang Aa-young, Park Si-soo
A Malaysian man has been arrested over a phone scam involving eight Korean victims, police said Tuesday.
The scam took place between March 28 and April 6, during which the suspect had duped nearly 88.6 million won ($84,100) from the victims, all jobseekers in their 20s, according to Suwon Nambu Police Station.
Police said the suspect's Korean-speaking accomplices in China had made phone calls to the victims pretending to be prosecutors. They demanded the victims withdraw money from their bank accounts and put it in a refrigerator in a hotel room in Gyeonggi Province or they would have trouble getting a job because their accounts had been used in crimes.
The Malaysian's role was to take the money out the refrigerator and wire it to his partners in China, police said.
The suspect arrived in Korea on March 23 via Incheon International Airport and received 150,000 won per successful case.
Police are seeking the help of Chinese police to catch the other gang members.