Prosecutors Arrest and Indict Head of Organization Supplying 14,000 Voice Phishing Fake Bank Accounts

The head of an organization that supplied more than 14,000 forged bank accounts to a voice phishing group and earned approximately 14.4 billion KRW in return has been arrested and brought to trial.

The Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Won-ik) announced on the 3rd that A (46), a former member of an organized crime group, was arrested and indicted on charges of organizing and participating in a criminal organization and operating illegal gambling establishments.

A is accused of, from 2014 to 2018, together with another leader B, setting up offices in Qingdao and Weihai cities in Shandong Province, China, selecting a total of 52 members including managers and account recruiters, and operating a call center to recruit forged bank accounts for use in voice phishing crimes. He is also charged with opening an illegal Powerball gambling site with betting amounts totaling about 3.1 billion KRW in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, from February to November 2019.

A and his group recruited forged bank accounts to receive criminal proceeds from domestic victims, selling or renting these accounts to voice phishing organizations. Subsequently, the voice phishing groups deceived victims by telling them that their personal accounts were involved in crimes and instructed them to transfer all funds to a safe account. The victims' money was then transferred to the forged accounts, withdrawn by cashers, and received by the criminals to continue their offenses.

The investigation revealed that these organizations were based in China and deceived victims by manipulating caller ID to domestic phone numbers or by using internet phones starting with 070.

A total of 54 members of the organization were sequentially arrested from 2020 to this year. Thirty members were arrested and indicted, sixteen were indicted without detention and sentenced to prison terms of five years or more. Two were subject to suspended prosecution, one was transferred to the military, and the main leader B and three managers remain at large with prosecution suspended. Ten members are currently on trial.

A prosecutor stated, "We will do our utmost to maintain the prosecution so that the defendant receives a sentence commensurate with the crime, and cooperate with the police to capture voice phishing organizations that received forged bank accounts from this group."