Ordered 500,000 Won Worth of Meals for Military Training
"Please Transfer Payment First Before Internal Approval"
6 Similar Damage Reports Received on the Same Day
A 'no-show scam' involving an impersonation of a soldier occurred in Ganghwa Island, Incheon. Photo by Yonhap News
A fraud case occurred in Ganghwa Island, Incheon, where a man impersonating a military officer deceived a restaurant.
On the 15th, News1 reported, citing Mr. A, who runs a restaurant in Ganghwa-gun, Incheon, that a man named Mr. B, who introduced himself as a sergeant of the Marine Corps 2nd Division, ordered 500,000 won worth of hangover soup, claiming it was for unit training meals. Mr. B told Mr. A, "We need to purchase combat rations worth about 7.5 million won for the unit through a certain company, but internal approval has not yet been completed," and added, "If you transfer the money to the company first, I will return the full amount in cash when I pick up the food." He also said, "If you don't have cash on hand, paying half is acceptable."
Mr. B even sent Mr. A a fake food estimate that was made to look like an official document from the Marine Corps 2nd Division. Deceived by this, Mr. A prepared 50 bowls of hangover soup on the 13th, the day Mr. B promised to pick up the food. When Mr. A later contacted Mr. B to inquire about the transfer, Mr. B refused to answer the phone and suddenly disappeared. Realizing he had almost been scammed, Mr. A reported the incident to the police. The 50 servings of prepared hangover soup had to be donated to a nearby village community center.
Currently, the Ganghwa Police Station has received a total of six reports of impersonation of military officers. All these cases were reported on the 13th, the same day Mr. A was victimized, and most of the reporters were restaurant owners. A police official stated, "We are accurately assessing the extent of the damage to the business owners. We are tracking the unidentified Mr. B on charges of obstruction of business," and added, "We believe there are additional victims and are expanding the investigation."
Meanwhile, a similar fraud case involving impersonation of a soldier occurred in Gwangju Metropolitan City last August. At that time, a man introduced himself as a second lieutenant of the Army 31st Division and ordered lunchboxes worth about 7 million won for about 80 soldiers. The business owner prepared lunchboxes worth about 1.4 million won on the first day of delivery, but the man claimed, "There is no bank nearby," and asked the owner to pay the amount due to another company on his behalf. When the suspicious owner refused, the man cut off contact and disappeared.
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