Vietnamese Base Organization Dismantled
"Do Not Click on Strange Messages"
The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency (Commissioner Kim Cheolmun) Cyber Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 20th that they had apprehended 86 members of a Vietnam-based smishing organization, which amassed over 10 billion KRW, and detained 9 of them.
The police stated that from January 2022 to July 2023, the suspects established an office in Vietnam and, together with domestic members, sent mobile wedding invitations, parcel delivery notifications (smishing), and child impersonation messages (phishing) to victims, defrauding 10 billion KRW from 230 individuals.
The police explained, "In the Vietnam office, under the ringleader, overseas managers were assigned to advertise loans and recruit SIM cards and bank accounts for criminal use. In the domestic office, under the ringleader's direction, various members used the collected SIM cards and account information to transfer stolen funds, which were then laundered through gambling sites and virtual accounts. Each member had a specific role in this organized operation."
After receiving a smishing report in July last year involving a malicious program installed via a mobile wedding invitation link, the police tracked over 70 virtual and corporate accounts and 300,000 transaction records to identify Vietnamese participants. They also analyzed mutual messages to uncover additional members involved in both the Vietnam and domestic offices.
Furthermore, through administrative sanctions on passports and Interpol red notices for the Vietnam office members, the police prevented escape to third countries and sequentially arrested domestic members, thereby exposing the full extent of the smishing crime organization.
Through intelligence from local Vietnamese sources and a year-long intensive investigation, the police identified the whereabouts of the ringleader and accomplices hiding in Vietnam. In cooperation with the National Police Agency's International Cooperation Office and leveraging a strong trust relationship with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, they shared intelligence and pursued arrests of the criminal organization.
As a result, they located the hideouts of organization members in the Ho Chi Minh City area and, with the active cooperation of police attach?s and local law enforcement, sequentially apprehended and detained the ringleader and other suspects, effectively dismantling the "smishing crime organization."
During the operation, approximately 190 million KRW in cash was seized, and authorities are tracking criminal proceeds related to high-end foreign vehicles, villas, and apartments purchased by the organization members in Vietnam.
A police official stated, "Since March, we have been intensifying crackdowns on new types of malicious fraud crimes, such as smishing, as part of a comprehensive strategy to eradicate scams that threaten public safety. New smishing crimes, including mobile wedding invitations and funeral notices, often contain URLs that automatically install malicious programs. Even if a message appears to come from a known contact, do not click the link; instead, contact the sender directly by phone or other means to confirm its authenticity and prevent damage in advance."
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