"Concerns Over Small Business Owner Damages"
Warning Issued
Recently, cases of "no-show" scams impersonating political figures have been reported across the country.
On May 15, the office of Jinseok Moon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Cheonan Gap, issued a warning, stating, "We have received reports of individuals impersonating the office secretary and committing no-show scams."
According to the office, on May 13, an individual falsely claiming to be a secretary for Representative Moon made a reservation at a restaurant in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, for a gathering of 20 people, including members of the National Assembly and ministers.
The impersonator also requested, "The representative would like a specific wine, so please prepare two bottles (worth approximately 10.4 million won) in advance," and introduced a wine supplier from which the wine could be ordered.
The office of Jinseok Moon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Cheonan Gap, has issued a warning after receiving reports of no-show scams impersonating the office secretary. Office of Jinseok Moon
However, on the day of the reservation, May 14, the person who made the reservation did not show up, and the affected restaurant owners reported the incident to the police.
There have been six confirmed victimized restaurants, and among them, one restaurant that actually transferred the payment for the wine suffered damages of about 10 million won.
An official from Moon's office stated, "We are making this public out of concern for small business owners," and urged, "If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from Representative Jinseok Moon's office, please verify by calling the official office number."
Meanwhile, a similar impersonation case occurred in Daejeon. According to the Democratic Party's Daejeon City Chapter, on May 14, an individual impersonated a staff member from the presidential campaign of Democratic Party candidate Jaemyung Lee and requested the production of 300,000 campaign name cards (worth about 2 million won), attempting to induce a money transfer. The company found the request suspicious, reported it to the police, and filed a criminal complaint for fraud.
In Gangwon Province as well, there have been repeated cases in which someone impersonated a Democratic Party official, ordered campaign supplies for candidate Lee, and then failed to appear?a "no-show" scam. The Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Chapter of the Democratic Party stated that they identified the individuals involved and reported them to the Chuncheon Police Station on May 10.
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