Operation of Number Manipulation Relay Devices Revealed with Opening and Sale of Fake SIM Cards
After Establishing a Ghost Corporation, Job Advertisements Posted on AlbaCheonguk and Facebook under Corporate Name
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] A relay device operator who installed dozens of mobile phone terminals acting as relay devices that alter phone numbers sent by Chinese voice phishing organizations into domestic 010 numbers and replaced SIM cards registered under others’ names to participate in voice phishing crimes has been handed over to the prosecution.
The Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit 1 of the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 22nd that they have arrested and sent to prosecution nine individuals, including operator A (20) and domestic voice phishing organization leader B (41), on charges of fraud and violation of the Telecommunications Business Act.
They are suspected of installing portable private relay devices in vehicles and roaming around the Jeonnam area to manipulate caller numbers from October last year to January this year.
According to the police investigation, the organization operated by B is one of the voice phishing groups active domestically, divided into a ‘relay device team’ responsible for supplying relay equipment, recruiting members and relay device operators, and a ‘SIM team’ responsible for recruiting subscribers for burner SIM cards and selling these SIM cards.
The organization was found not only to alter phone numbers sent by Chinese voice phishing groups but also to have activated about 1,000 burner SIM cards and sold them to domestic or overseas criminal organizations.
Additionally, to recruit relay device operators or burner SIM subscribers, they established a shell corporation under the name of C, who acted as part of the ‘SIM team,’ and placed job advertisements under the corporation’s name on Alba Heaven, Facebook, and purchased large numbers of resumes registered on Albamon.
By posting job ads, they lured part-time workers or job seekers in urgent need of money, offering high weekly payments of 1.5 to 2 million KRW for installing relay devices in one-room apartments, or paid commissions of 20,000 to 50,000 KRW per line to burner SIM subscribers, also providing methods to evade police crackdowns.
The Jeonnam police are conducting investigations into the registered owners of the seized burner SIM cards as well as the agencies that activated large quantities of burner SIM cards.
A Jeonnam police official stated, “If you are asked to do part-time jobs guaranteeing high income or to activate SIM cards, you should be cautious as there is a high possibility of being involved in crimes such as voice phishing.”
Even if one claims ignorance of the use of their actions in voice phishing crimes, receiving high payments simply for installing relay devices is considered as at least tacit recognition of the crime, which can lead to imprisonment on charges of fraud and violation of the Telecommunications Business Act. Burner SIM subscribers can also be punished under the Telecommunications Business Act, and depending on the degree of involvement, charges of aiding fraud may be added.
The Jeonnam police will continue to conduct crackdowns on relay devices and the activation and distribution of burner phones (SIMs) to fundamentally block voice phishing crimes, and will carry out crime prevention publicity activities targeting local universities and vocational training institutes to prevent youths from falling into criminal traps due to temptations such as guaranteed high income.
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