Gwangju Police Arrest 1,634 People in Special Crackdown on Fraud Crimes in First Half of This Year

Tightened Crackdown Continues in the Second Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Police arrested 1,634 people during a special crackdown on fraud crimes in the first half of this year.

According to the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency on the 3rd, the police conducted a special crackdown for five months from February to June on telephone financial fraud, everyday fraud, cyber fraud, and telecommunication financial fraud.

Regarding telephone financial fraud, as financial institutions have recently strengthened account issuance screening, the method of ‘withdrawal (face-to-face) extortion’ has surged while the ‘account transfer’ method has decreased. The number of arrests for ‘withdrawal (face-to-face) extortion’ increased by 138.3%, but ‘account name holders’ decreased by 91.2%.

In insurance fraud, 150 cases and 393 people were arrested, with one person detained, and in employment fraud, 4 cases and 4 people were arrested.

In cyber fraud, ‘online direct transaction fraud’ accounted for 96.5% (344 people) of those arrested, cyber financial crimes (messenger phishing, webcam phishing, etc.) accounted for 2.6% (25 people), and new types of cyber fraud (online investment fraud, etc.) accounted for 0.8% (9 people).

For the four major telecommunication financial fraud tools?burner phones, bank accounts, communication relay devices, and illegal currency exchange?78 cases and 43 people were arrested (6 detained), with 60 burner phones and 50 burner bank accounts uncovered.

Of the total crime compensation amount of 2.05 billion KRW, 400 million KRW from fraud crimes was confiscated and recovered.

The Gwangju Police will tighten the reins on special crackdowns on fraud crimes in the second half of the year as well.

The key targets for the crackdown are areas closely related to the daily lives of the public: ▲ telephone financial fraud ▲ everyday fraud (insurance fraud, employment and lease fraud) ▲ wanted fraud offenders ▲ cyber fraud (goods transaction fraud, messenger and webcam phishing, new method fraud).

For telephone financial fraud, to efficiently respond to crimes committed systematically and indiscriminately against the entire population, the city police’s full investigation teams (2 teams, 10 people) plan to covertly arrest so-called ‘call centers’ and apply the ‘criminal organization formation charge.’ The police station’s intelligence and violent crime teams will focus on arresting organization members such as cash collectors and withdrawal agents.

Regarding everyday fraud, the police will intensively crack down on insurance fraud that causes insurance payout leakage and increases social costs, as well as lease fraud and employment fraud that produce many victims by exploiting difficult economic conditions.

They plan to strengthen intelligence gathering activities through various channels such as related government agencies, internet communities, and employment and real estate-related websites.

Wanted fraud offenders will be selected as focused tracking targets (estimated about 320 people) by each police station considering factors such as damage amount, number of victims, number of warrants, and long-term wanted offenders.

Cyber fraud will be addressed with a focus on organized and technical crimes centered on the city police agency, strictly responding not only to cyber financial crimes but also to crimes infringing on the common people’s economy, such as the rapidly increasing crimes using virtual assets.

Additionally, they will prevent crime damage in advance by blocking phishing and malware distribution sites and carry out promotional activities to prevent cyber fraud.

For important reports or tips on fraud crimes or for citizens who help with arrests, the police plan to actively provide reward money (up to 100 million KRW) after reviewing the contribution level and the seriousness of the crime.

Meanwhile, the Gwangju Police Agency arrested 980 fraud offenders (57 detained) including telephone financial fraud during the five months from February to June in the ‘first half fraud crime special crackdown,’ recovered 140 million KRW in damages, and confiscated and recovered assets worth 400 million KRW.

A Gwangju Police Agency official said, “We will devote all investigative police capabilities to eradicate fraud crimes with determination through this second half special crackdown on fraud crimes.”