"'Cash upon Internet Installation'... Everyone Else Gets It, I Never Thought I'd Be the Victim" [Economic Crime 24 Hours]

Telemarketer Abuses Customer Information for Crimes After Resignation
Evades Capture for Over Six Months, Moving Every 3-4 Months

Cash support for internet subscription. Up to 700,000 KRW paid on the installation day is a common promotional phrase seen on internet subscription sites online. Consumers are enticed with offers of cash and gift certificates when using broadcasting and communication bundled products such as internet or TV after the contract period ends. Mr. Kim Young-gon (31, pseudonym) also applied for internet and TV services for his studio apartment a few years ago after seeing this type of advertisement. Mr. Kim, who paid 30,000 to 40,000 KRW monthly for the services, received a debt collection letter last November. It stated that his telecom fees were overdue. Since Mr. Kim had set up automatic credit card payments every month, he was understandably baffled. Upon checking, he found that four additional lines had been opened under his name. On top of that, several months’ worth of fees were unpaid.

A former telecom employee who fraudulently pocketed hundreds of millions of won by deceiving customers into subscribing to broadcasting and communication bundled products with false promises of cash support and then stealing the gifts has been handed over to the prosecution while in custody.

The Uiwang Police Station in Gyeonggi announced on the 1st that Hwang (55) was sent to prosecution under arrest on charges including fraud, forgery of private documents, and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.

Hwang is accused of subscribing victims to various telecom products without their consent over five years from December 2018 to the end of last year, embezzling gifts worth approximately 340 million KRW.

According to the police investigation, Hwang deceived companies by applying for internet or TV bundled product installations and telling installation technicians, “I have to move soon and don’t know how to install it myself, so just leave it at the door,” making it appear as if the service had been activated.

In particular, Hwang was found to have used customers’ personal information collected while working as a telemarketer for a telecom company to receive gifts worth between 400,000 KRW and 2,000,000 KRW per person.

After victims, including Mr. Kim, became aware of debt collection for unpaid fees around June last year and reported it, the police merged the cases in January this year and launched an investigation. The number of victims identified by the police reached 200.

However, Hwang stopped his criminal activities immediately after the investigation began and continued to evade capture by moving residences every three months.

Based on telecom warrants and other evidence, the police continued tracking and arrested Hwang on the 21st at a rented room in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province. Considering the significant amount of damages and his long period of evasion, he was sent to prosecution under arrest on the 28th.