Jeonnam Police Reward Voice Phishing Informants and Others

Village Resident Who Reported Suspected Voice Phishing Criminal Twice Gains Attention for Contributing to Crime Prevention

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] A voice phishing cash collector was caught thanks to a resident who reported a suspicious person loitering in front of an ATM in a sparsely populated fishing village.

The Jeonnam police announced on the 1st that they awarded a certificate of commendation and paid a reward for reporting an important criminal to resident A (65), who contributed to the arrest of a voice phishing criminal by reporting them on the 30th of last month.

They also awarded a certificate of commendation to Lieutenant Jeong Eun-yeon (59) of the Su-mun Branch Office of the Wando Maritime Police Station, who contributed to the arrest of the criminal upon request for cooperation from the Jangheung Police Station.

On May 10th at around 4 p.m., A discovered a strange young man loitering in front of an ATM at the Nonghyup 365 Corner in Su-mun-ri, Anyang-myeon, Jangheung-gun, after getting off a taxi, suspected him of voice phishing, and reported it.

Lieutenant Jeong Eun-yeon of the Su-mun Branch Office, Hoejin Police Substation, Wando Maritime Police Station, who received the cooperation request, immediately dispatched to the scene, arrested suspect B who was waiting to deposit the voice phishing proceeds, and seized 9.51 million won in cash and other items.

The arrested B (22) was revealed to be a cash collector for a telephone financial fraud group. On the same day, in Jakcheon-myeon, Gangjin-gun, he deceived victim C (female, 62) by promising to provide refinancing loans, embezzled the seized 9.51 million won, and attempted to deposit the victim’s money to a merchant ship using the ATM in the sparsely populated fishing village.

A said, “On March 28, I also reported a voice phishing collector with the village chief and received a letter of appreciation from the Jangheung Police Chief,” adding, “By paying attention to and reporting suspicious strangers loitering in front of the ATM in a sparsely populated fishing village, I was able to catch voice phishing criminals twice.”

A Jeonnam police official said, “Recently, face-to-face extortion-type voice phishing, where perpetrators impersonate financial or investigative institutions and directly collect money from elderly people in farming and fishing villages, has been rampant,” and emphasized, “To prevent damage, we ask for active interest and reporting, as small attention and reports from the surroundings, like those shown by A, can prevent voice phishing and even recover the stolen money.”