98 Suspects Impersonating 'Prosecutor Kim Min-su' Who Drove a 20s Job Seeker to Death Arrested

Busan Police Agency Arrests Voice Phishing Gang Impersonating Seoul Central District Prosecutor Kim Min-su, Involved in 10 Billion KRW Fraud

Formed Corporate Crime Group in China, Established Call Center for Professional Phishing, Including 'Person

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The gang behind the ‘Prosecutor Kim Minsu who killed my son’ has been completely dismantled.

A father posted on the Blue House National Petition Board on February 12 last year under the title ‘Can we catch the faceless prosecutor Kim Minsu who killed my son?’ which sparked public outrage. At that time, a typical job-seeking man in his 20s was deceived by this gang and ultimately died.

Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 14th that they launched an investigation into the voice phishing crime organization that caused national outrage, arresting 98 members including Mr. A (male, in his 40s), who played the role of ‘Prosecutor Kim Minsu,’ and detaining 29 of them.

The gang set up an office including a call center in China in August 2015, installed a caller ID spoofing relay device in South Korea, and for five years until December 2020, impersonated prosecutors and financial institutions to target ordinary citizens desperate for money.

They tricked victims by making them believe they were involved in a case and offered low-interest refinancing loans, stealing approximately 10 billion KRW from the victims.

In November 2017, the police received intelligence that a gang member Mr. A from the Jeonbuk region was operating a voice phishing organization by inviting domestic gangsters to China and began an investigation.

The voice phishing gang meticulously formed a corporate-style crime organization by setting up call center offices and dormitories in places like Suzhou, China.

To facilitate their crimes, they even installed a caller ID spoofing relay device domestically so that the victims would see domestic phone numbers on their phones.

They divided roles among managers, team leaders, and counselors at the call center to carry out their crimes. They received money from victims through pre-arranged fake bank accounts or accomplices in South Korea met victims directly, showing fake Financial Supervisory Service IDs to brazenly extort money.

Sometimes, they used a sophisticated method of having victims leave money in storage lockers and then retrieving it.

To avoid revealing personal information among members, they rotated personnel in the call center after a certain period, implementing ‘personnel transfers.’

The ‘Prosecutor Kim Minsu’ gang executed their crimes meticulously and reportedly lived lavishly in China with the stolen money.

The police focused on investigating the gang’s immigration records and arrested a total of 98 people from November 2019 to March 2021, detaining 29 of them.

A Busan police official said, “Investigative agencies never ask for remittances, so calls pretending to be prosecutors asking for safe account transfers or direct delivery, or offering low-interest refinancing loans are common voice phishing tactics and should never be responded to.”

He also urged, “Even if the main perpetrators of voice phishing crimes are caught, it is difficult to recover the damages already suffered. Especially, citizens who received calls impersonating Prosecutors Kim Minsu, Lee Dohyun, or investigators are asked to report them.”