"Hiring Daily Workers"... 30s Impersonate Construction Site Team Leader to Extort 200 Million Won

"Deposit Taken with Promise of Refund on First Workday"
Embezzlement of 200,000 to 400,000 KRW Each from 168 People

A man in his 30s who impersonated a construction site team leader and posted ads to recruit daily workers to work with him, swindling 200 million won from 168 people, was arrested by the police.

On the 18th, the Hwaseong Dongtan Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced that they had arrested and were investigating a man in his 30s, identified as A, on charges of fraud. From April last year to January this year, A posted false ads saying "Looking for daily workers" on mobile social networking services (SNS) where construction site workers gather, and collected 200,000 to 400,000 won per person as a deposit for attendance from job seekers, swindling a total of 21.7 million won from 168 people.

A modeled a fictional character of a "young construction site executive in his 30s" based on a team leader he had worked with at a construction site in the past. He used the method of deceiving people by saying, "To be deployed to the site, a daily worker team must be formed," and "The deposit paid on the first day of work will be returned." He gradually increased the number of victims using this method, and when the promised date approached, he continued the crime by making excuses such as "There was a disruption at the site." During this process, A sometimes returned money to some protesting victims by so-called "Ponzi scheme" methods, passing deposits received from others, but most of the money was found to have been squandered on online gambling. Most victims were in their 60s and 70s, and a significant number were foreign workers and North Korean defectors.

After receiving reports from the victims, the police consolidated identical cases reported to 12 police stations nationwide and executed search warrants on 24 financial institutions to identify even unreported victims, thereby proving A's charges. A police official said, "To prevent employment fraud, it is better to use intermediary agencies rather than personal recruitment referrals," and added, "If any fees are requested before hiring, special caution is required." In particular, caution is needed when money is requested under the pretexts of certificate issuance fees, attendance deposits, tuition fees, or when documents such as resident registration copies or bankbook copies are requested before hiring.

Meanwhile, in October last year, a fraudster who took a large amount of referral deposits by claiming to secure employment at Hyundai Motor Company was arrested on fraud charges. B extorted 150 million won from a single victim in eight installments from early 2020 to the end of last year. In addition to the 12 million won referral deposit, B received money under the pretexts of union bribes and employee stock purchases. B deceived the victim, with whom he had a close relationship, by claiming he had joined the company using the same method and continuously showing himself wearing Hyundai Motor Company work clothes. However, the victim became suspicious when B kept postponing the employment schedule citing COVID-19 and eventually reported him to the police.