Internet Scams Surge This Year
Part-Time Job and Side Job Ads Disguised as 'Missions'
Victims Lured to Sites and Defrauded of Money
# Suspect A last month had victims who contacted him after seeing part-time job advertisements on TikTok install a specific conversational app, then made them perform actions disguised as an investment called 'team missions' in a group chat room. A claimed that due to the victim's mistake, they could not receive the mission earnings, and required them to deposit money first to participate in a high-value mission, signing them up on a specific site. He then made them perform missions unrelated to the part-time job and embezzled about 7.5 million KRW in total over three occasions under the pretext of mission participation fees.
Internet scam reports in the first quarter of this year increased by as much as 81% compared to the same period last year. In response, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) has urged caution regarding online scam methods involving recruitment for part-time jobs and side jobs.
On the 13th, the KCSC disclosed examples of new scam methods related to part-time job fraud and warned the public to be cautious.
The number of internet scam reports corrected by the KCSC in the first quarter of this year totaled 67, an approximately 81% increase compared to the same period last year. Special caution is required from economically vulnerable groups amid the surge in internet scams.
Part-time job scams involve ▲ making victims perform activities disguised as investments called 'team missions,' ▲ inducing victims to make mistakes, and ▲ embezzling money under the pretext of participation fees and commissions through high-value missions unrelated to the part-time job.
These scams take the form of making victims who contacted after seeing short video ads on SNS perform unrelated actions such as watching videos or capturing advertisement screens under the name of 'missions,' then signing them up on scam sites to embezzle money.
For example, suspect B last December deceived victims who contacted him after seeing part-time job ads on Instagram by saying, "If you watch a specific advertisement on YouTube for more than 5 seconds and send a screenshot, you will be paid 1,000 KRW per case."
He then lured victims who carried out this task into participating in high-profit missions requiring payment, signing them up on specific applications and sites, and falsely claiming, "If you recharge points to participate in investment missions, you can receive part-time job fees and profits," embezzling about 5.7 million KRW over four occasions.
The KCSC regularly publishes detailed review cases describing these criminal methods on its website to prevent the spread of internet scam damages. Additional cases can be found on the KCSC website.
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