Vietnam Base 10 Billion Won Mobile Smishing Crime Organization Arrested

6 out of 7 Key Organizers and Core Members Repatriated

On the 20th, the National Police Agency announced that it had arrested seven members of a mobile smishing criminal organization based in Vietnam through joint investigations and forcibly repatriated six key members, including the ringleader and core members.

The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Police Agency began a full-scale investigation after receiving the first report last July of fraud damage caused by receiving a mobile wedding invitation, determining it to be a so-called "mobile smishing" case involving the installation of malicious software. The investigation team analyzed nearly 300,000 transactions from about 70 accounts, including virtual accounts and corporate accounts used to receive the victim's money, arresting two Vietnamese domestic members and detaining one. Subsequently, they identified eight overseas members and revealed that this was the largest-ever mobile smishing organization with 230 victims and approximately 10 billion KRW in damages.

The National Police Agency shared intelligence on the criminal organization with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security based on a solid trust relationship built over time. As a result, a total of 86 suspects were arrested domestically and abroad, including seven of the eight members operating overseas. Except for one incarcerated locally, six key members, including the ringleader and money laundering operators, were repatriated to Korea.

A National Police Agency official stated, "This is a model case of dismantling an overseas-based criminal organization by working as one team with local judicial authorities and police attach?s," adding, "We will continue to respond strongly through close inter-agency cooperation within the National Police Agency and tight international cooperation to eradicate organized crimes such as new and malicious fraud."