34 Ghost Companies Opened 413 Fake Bank Accounts Under Their Names... 800 Million Won Lost to Fraud and Phishing Crimes

Daegu Police Arrest 8
"Strengthening Bank Account Opening Procedures"

On the 22nd, the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency arrested 22 suspects for violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act after opening 413 bank accounts under the names of 34 shell corporations and distributing them to investment fraud and phishing crime organizations. Among them, eight individuals, including the ringleader Mr. A (male, in his 30s), were additionally charged with organizing a criminal group and were detained.

The police stated that these individuals divided roles such as 'ringleader,' 'account manager,' 'home/agent recruiter,' 'impersonation of corporate representatives,' and 'account opening agents' to carry out the crimes systematically.

Daegu Police Agency

Mr. A and others are suspected of recruiting corporate representatives and account opening agents through loan advertisements or high-yield part-time job ads, transferring the names of existing corporations, visiting financial institutions to open accounts, and then distributing these accounts to criminal organizations.

According to the police investigation, during the process where agents applied to open accounts, the financial institutions would call the corporate representatives to verify their identity. To prepare for this, the suspects had pre-arranged individuals to impersonate the corporate representatives.

The police revealed that these shell accounts were used in investment leading scams and phishing crimes, resulting in damages amounting to 800 million KRW.

The police emphasized, “To prevent the distribution of shell accounts under corporate names, financial institutions need to strengthen identity verification procedures during the account opening process, such as conducting video calls with corporate representatives. Additionally, institutional improvements are necessary, such as limiting the number of accounts that can be opened under a corporate name based on corporate tax payment status and the amount paid.” They added, “Since shell accounts are used in crimes closely related to the everyday economy, such as voice phishing, causing irreparable damage, we plan to continue cracking down on these activities.”