Impersonating Soldiers in Voice Phishing Scams... "Group Reservations, Hundreds of Thousands Lost"

Send Approval Document with Battalion Commander's Seal
11 Suspicious Reports of "Other Restaurants Also Affected"

Voice phishing impersonating an army officer has emerged, prompting the police to launch an investigation. The scam involves pretending to place a group order for soldiers' meals and embezzling millions of won.

Recently, the Jeonbuk Police Agency received a report from a restaurant owner in Jinan who was defrauded of millions of won by a man impersonating an army officer.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

On the 4th, the victim received a call from a man who introduced himself as an army administrative supply officer. The man requested, "Please prepare and package chicken soup for 50 soldiers in training by the afternoon of the 6th." The order was worth approximately 960,000 won. The man spoke in the 'danaka' style commonly used by soldiers, and since it was a typical group order call, the owner did not suspect anything.

The problem occurred the next morning. The man called again and asked, "Please also prepare fruit for the soldiers to eat with their meals." He said he would notify the orchard contracted with the unit and requested payment for the fruit. The man even sent a payment approval document for the soldiers' meal expenses stamped with the battalion commander's seal via mobile phone.

Accordingly, the owner transferred about 3 million won to an account under the orchard representative's name. The orchard also sent a delivery confirmation.

However, the soldiers who were supposed to arrive at the restaurant on the reserved day did not show up. The man who claimed to be a soldier was also unreachable. The official document and delivery confirmation were fake. The owner suffered damages amounting to about 4 million won, including the cost of food and fruit. Although the bank tried to request a payment stop, it was already too late.

The owner filed a complaint with the police and informed the Korea Foodservice Industry Association to prevent further damage. The association has identified 11 suspicious reports in the province, including Jinan, Gochang, Imsil, and Namwon. It is also known that a restaurant suffered damages of about 2.6 million won using a similar method.