90 Million Won Lost to Military Impersonation Scam... Nearly Lost 10 Million Won Over Expensive Wine Gift

"Intended for use at the company commander promotion ceremony," ordered
Victimized business owner: "Almost lost 9.9 million won..."

A story has emerged about a man at a flower shop in Andong, Gyeongbuk, who impersonated a soldier, ordered 900,000 won worth of flowers, and then disappeared, causing losses to the shop owner.

On the 30th, JTBC's 'Case Manager' aired the story of Mr. A, who has been running a flower shop in Andong for 30 years.

Mr. A explained, "On the 22nd, a man who introduced himself as a soldier ordered 900,000 won worth of flowers, saying they were for a promotion event from battalion commander to division commander." According to Mr. A, the man told him, "The battalion commander likes a flashy style, so please arrange the flowers big and showy. I will pick them up and pay at 5:30 PM the next day." However, on the promised day, the man began making suspicious requests. He asked Mr. A to purchase a specific wine for the event on his behalf.

A text message sent by a man who introduced himself as a soldier. [Photo by JTBC Incident Captain capture]

The man said, "The company that was supposed to supply the wine is refusing the order due to a price dispute with the military supplies manager. Please contact the company and buy just three bottles." The wine the man requested was priced at 3.5 million won per bottle. When Mr. A inquired, the company said, "Since you are a new customer, we will offer it at 3.3 million won per bottle. Three bottles will be 9.9 million won."

When Mr. A relayed this information to the man, he tried to persuade him by saying, "If you make an advance payment, I will include the wine cost when settling the flower bill. Since you are a new customer, I will add an extra 300,000 to 400,000 won as a bonus." Mr. A found this suspicious and did not transfer the wine payment to the company, and as expected, the man disappeared.

Mr. A said, "The 900,000 won worth of flowers were eventually discarded. I am reporting this because I don't want other small business owners to suffer the same damage."

Recently, no-show scams impersonating military personnel have been rampant. Earlier on the 23rd, a post appeared on X (formerly Twitter) stating, "I was no-showed for about 2.7 million won worth of meat." The author revealed, "A man who identified himself as a sergeant in a military unit ordered about 2.7 million won worth of beef, pork neck, and pork belly but then disappeared."