Impersonating Celebrities, Politicians, and Public Officials
"Never Accept Advance Payments or Proxy Purchase Requests"
"I'd like to have a staff dinner at your restaurant after the concert..."
The man on the phone introduced himself as an employee of a famous singer's agency and called restaurant owner A to make a reservation. He then said, "Please purchase wine through company B. Payment will be made at the dinner."
Although A was suspicious, the agency business card and the wine company CEO's business card sent via text message could both be easily found online. Ultimately, not wanting to lose the group reservation, A transferred 30 million KRW for the alcohol to company B's account.
Afterward, A was unable to reach the man. The agency also stated that they had never called A or held a staff dinner there. This was a 'no-show' scam that took place on the 11th of last month at a restaurant in Ingye-dong, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
On May 18, Yonhap News reported that so-called 'no-show' scams, in which perpetrators deceive small business owners by pretending to make group meal reservations or large-scale orders and then steal money, are spreading nationwide.
The impersonated targets range from famous celebrities to politicians and public officials.
Around the 13th of last month, six restaurants in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province received calls from someone identifying themselves as an aide to Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jinseok, but it was ultimately revealed to be a scam. At the time, the caller said, "I want to reserve a dinner for 20 people, including the lawmaker and a minister. The lawmaker wants a specific wine, so please prepare two bottles in advance (worth about 10.4 million KRW)," and even introduced a wine supplier that could provide the wine.
On the reservation date, the 14th, the caller never appeared. The affected business owners reported the incident to the police. It was found that a restaurant that actually transferred the wine payment suffered a loss of about 10 million KRW.
There have also been cases of scammers impersonating firefighters. Earlier this month in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, a man pretending to be an employee of the Cheonan Seobuk Fire Station handed over a real firefighter's business card to an interior design company and requested, "Since there is no budget available right now, please pay for 55 million KRW worth of fire suits on our behalf." Fortunately, the business owner checked with the fire station and confirmed that the firefighter had never made such a request.
According to police and other sources on May 18, the typical method of targeting restaurants or bars involves inquiring about large-scale reservations and then, using this as a pretext, inducing the business to purchase expensive alcohol or other items worth hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of KRW from a specific company, only to steal the money.
This method can result in harm not only to the small business owners who suffer direct losses, but also to the individuals or organizations being impersonated.
On the 14th in Daejeon, after someone impersonated the campaign staff for Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung and requested the production of 300,000 campaign business cards (worth about 2 million KRW), inducing a payment, the Democratic Party issued a statement saying, "This scam aims to damage candidate Lee's image through a no-show after the order," and declared its intention to respond firmly.
Lim Youngwoong's agency, Fish Music, posted on social media on the 16th, "Recently, there have been cases where someone impersonates Lim Youngwoong to make restaurant reservations as a pretext for causing no-show damages or requests for high-end alcohol deliveries and money transfers. Fish Music does not make restaurant reservations in our name, and under no circumstances do we request money transfers, product purchases, or alcohol deliveries. All such requests are illegal acts by impersonators."
Other celebrities such as Song Gain, Ha Jungwoo, Nam Goongmin, Byun Wooseok, Lee Soogeun, and Sung Sikyung have also been victims of impersonation, prompting their agencies to take strong action. They stated, "This issue constitutes a serious illegal act that causes real harm to the industry," and "We plan to take strong measures, including civil and criminal legal action, against impersonation and fraud."
These scams are difficult to trace because they are carried out solely via phone calls and text messages using burner phones, without any face-to-face contact.
A police official told Yonhap News, "Government agencies never request large-sum purchases over the phone, nor do they ask other companies to make payments on their behalf," and added, "For group reservations, it is advisable to request a partial deposit, and any requests for proxy purchases may be scams, so you should never comply."
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