Targeting Only Digitally Clumsy Places for 'Fake Payments'... 40s Scammer Embezzled 8 Million Won

Exploitation of Receipt Printing After Card Number Entry
"Requesting Customers Not to Operate Card Terminals"

A man in his 40s was arrested for entering false information into credit card terminals to make it appear as if payments were completed, allowing him to drink or dine at pubs and restaurants without paying.

Suspect A (43), who is inputting false information into the card terminal. [Image source=Bucheon Wonmi Police Station]

On the 16th, the Wonmi Police Station in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, arrested Mr. A (43) on charges of habitual fraud. Mr. A is accused of drinking or dining 41 times at 26 pubs and restaurants in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, and Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, from the 26th of last month to the 8th of this month, without paying approximately 8 million won.

It is reported that Mr. A exploited the 'key-in payment' method, where card information is entered into the merchant's terminal without a physical card to pay the cost. When a false approval number, not the one received from the card company, is entered during key-in payment, the actual payment does not occur, but a receipt is printed from the terminal, which was exploited.

Mr. A claimed, "I did not bring my credit card," and directly entered the card number at pubs and restaurants, then printed receipts to deceive that the payment was completed. In fact, most of the affected merchants were elderly people in their 60s and 70s who were unfamiliar with using card terminals. They mistakenly believed the payment was completed when a receipt was issued from the card terminal. Also, since credit card payments are automatically transferred to the merchant 3 to 4 days after the transaction, the merchants did not realize they had been defrauded.

On the 8th, after receiving a report from a karaoke bar owner, the police launched an investigation and confirmed that Mr. A had repeatedly committed the crime. Mr. A prepaid about 90,000 won by entering the information himself into the terminal at this karaoke bar, then after drinking, made an additional payment of about 200,000 won. However, the karaoke bar owner noticed that the approval numbers on the two receipts were the same and began to doubt whether the payments were actually made. During this process, the two had a scuffle, and the karaoke bar owner, who was assaulted by Mr. A, reported it to the police.

The police arrested Mr. A on the spot for assault and, during the investigation of additional crimes, obtained a confession that he had been consistently dining and drinking without paying. A police official stated, "Manipulating the card terminal directly by the customer without a physical card can be a fraudulent method," and urged, "You should never comply with such requests." They also said they plan to propose improvements regarding the issue where receipts are printed even when arbitrary approval numbers are entered.