"Han Gang-sik Prosecutor" Voice Phishing Gang That Extorted 2.9 Billion Won Caught After 4 Years

A voice phishing organization that operated based in China and embezzled billions of won has been uncovered.

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office Voice Phishing Crime Government Joint Investigation Team (Head Kim Soo-min) announced on the 27th that they have booked 27 members of the voice phishing organization on charges including joining and participating in a criminal organization and fraud, of which 19 were arrested and prosecuted, and 1 was prosecuted without detention.

They are accused of joining a voice phishing organization formed by the mastermind 'Moon Seong' in Qingdao, Dalian, China, from July 2017 to July 2019, deceiving 58 victims by claiming their accounts were involved in crimes, and extorting 2.9 billion won.

At the time of the first investigation in 2019, the arrested members denied the crimes entirely, and most of the organization members were unidentified, leading to the suspension of the investigation. However, in January this year, the Voice Phishing Crime Government Joint Investigation Team resumed the investigation and apprehended all the fugitives. During this process, additional damage (1 victim, 160 million won) was also revealed, increasing the total crime scale to 58 victims and approximately 2.9 billion won in damages.

Voice phishing crime methods. [Provided by Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office]

They divided roles as shopping mall employees, police officers, and prosecutors, and executed the crime systematically in three stages. The call center manager sent bait messages to victims stating that payment was completed at an online shopping mall, and when victims contacted them, they deceived them by saying, "If you did not make the payment, your identity has been stolen, so we will report it to the Cyber Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency."

Then, impersonating a police officer from the Cyber Investigation Unit, an organization member pretended to connect the victim to the prosecutor in charge of the case. During this process, even if victims called the investigative agency to report, they were always connected to the voice phishing organization's phone, and when the organization members called the victims, the victim's phone displayed the call as if it was from the investigative agency, inducing the installation of a so-called 'Gangsu Gangbal' (forced reception and forced transmission) malicious application (app).

Victims who installed the malicious app transferred money through organization members impersonating prosecutors. They impersonated characters such as 'Prosecutor Han Gang-sik' from the movie "The King," claiming that the victim's account was being used for crimes and that if they transferred the balance to a national safety account, the money would be returned after the investigation ended, thereby extorting money.

The joint investigation team obtained a seizure and preservation order for 573.26 million won of criminal proceeds and took preservation measures on real estate, vehicles, and bonds. A prosecution official stated, "We will actively pursue the forced repatriation of the mastermind and managers residing overseas and will track down and arrest all participants to the end."