"The Gates of Hell Have Opened"... Victims Turned Perpetrators [Voice Phishing Expos?]

College Student Forced into Fraud in China Amid Assault and Coercion
Returned in Ruins, Unable to Report Due to Threats

Voice phishing, once dismissed as 'someone else's problem,' is no longer a matter of fooling people with clumsy Joseonjok accents. Voice phishing, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated with overseas bases, is difficult to detect and compensate for damages. Because victims of voice phishing crimes were confident they would never fall prey, they suffer greater mental and financial distress than anyone else. We explore the reality and prevention measures of voice phishing, which has become a serious social problem, in three parts.

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Gwan-ju, Yoo Byung-don] "From that day on, every day was hell."

In his mid-20s, An Jae-gyeom (alias) looked around nervously throughout the interview. Having worked briefly at a voice phishing office, An still suffers from nightmares. For An, who had no intention of making money illegally nor actually held any money, those few months were a dark period he wants to forget.

An was forced to work at the voice phishing office. A close older brother suggested working shift production at a factory in the provinces, and as a university student who needed to earn money due to his father's business failure, An immediately took a leave of absence. Then, under the pretext of dispatched work, the company sent An and his brother to China, with the carrot of a much higher salary.

Upon arriving at the lodging in China, they were met with indiscriminate violence. The place they thought was lodging was actually the office of the voice phishing gang, and An and his group were beaten unilaterally and confined. Then, unable to resist threats, they had to make voice phishing calls.

Going out was strictly controlled, and calls had to be made according to the manual provided by the voice phishing gang. On days without results, meaning if they failed to create even one victim, beatings and verbal abuse inevitably followed. Working over 14 hours a day, An received about 4 million won per month. However, after deducting lodging and food expenses, he barely earned over 1 million won.

Thinking he could no longer live like this, An attempted to escape. He jumped from a third-floor window but twisted his ankle. An said, "I thought it was the same whether I got beaten to death for no results or got caught escaping and beaten to death," and "I tore open the window and escaped during the early morning when surveillance was lax." An gave up all the money and belongings he had saved. Although he ran away, he did not even have money to buy a plane ticket back to Korea. Eventually, he called home in Korea, booked a plane ticket, and barely returned home. It seemed the nightmare would end there.

However, from the day he returned to Korea, calls demanding An were incessantly made to his home. When An's family answered, callers claiming to be An's friends or close brothers persistently questioned whether An was home or had entered Korea.

Because of this, An could not even go outside for a while. He felt as if someone was watching him. He could not report to the police either. It was difficult to arrest the voice phishing gang in China, and An himself had been involved in voice phishing, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. An said, "I was afraid that if I reported to the police, I would be punished as a criminal."

After several days of repeated calls, the calls lessened as An's family changed their phone number, but An's nightmare is still ongoing. It is due to guilt toward the victims. An said, "Although I acted under threats, there are definitely people who were harmed because of me," and "Even after several years, I feel so sorry when I think of those people."