Phishing Ring Busted for Buying Teenagers' Danggeun Accounts and Stealing 6.7 Billion Won

Gyeonggi Northern Police: 42 Arrested, 14 Detained
Purchased Accounts for 100,000 to 1 Million Won Each for Crimes

A group that purchased online accounts from teenagers for 100,000 to 1 million won each and used them to carry out phishing scams, amassing billions of won, has been apprehended in large numbers.

On September 12, the Cyber Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency announced that it had arrested 42 individuals on charges including violation of the Act on Compensation for Damage Caused by Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud, and detained 14 of them, including a man in his 30s identified as Mr. A, who was the domestic ringleader. Mr. A and others are accused of defrauding a total of 1,462 victims out of 6.7 billion won through various phishing scams, such as secondhand trading fraud and investment guidance fraud, from May last year to July this year.

Screenshot of accounts purchased advertised by suspects on Telegram, etc. Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency

The group purchased accounts from portal sites like Naver, as well as KakaoTalk and Danggeun Market, and used them to commit their crimes. They advertised on Telegram, offering to pay for accounts, and bought each account for 100,000 to 1 million won. Most of the people who sold their accounts to the group were teenagers in need of spending money. The suspects used these acquired accounts to impersonate Danggeun Market traders, financial experts, and more, carrying out a variety of phishing scams.

Using the purchased accounts, they posted secondhand goods for sale on trading sites like Danggeun Market, then lured victims to fake payment sites under the pretense of "safe payment," and pocketed the money. A police official explained, "The criminals paid more for IDs on the Danggeun platform with good ratings from previous transactions, as these were used for such crimes."

The group also posed as financial experts, promising profits from investments, collected money, and then disappeared. Both the so-called financial experts who explained the investments and the people who pretended to have made real profits were actually members of the organization using fake accounts. Police believe that most of the 532 accounts used by the group were purchased from teenagers, and among the 42 people arrested, 19 were identified as teenagers.

A police official stated, "While adults are clearly aware of the importance of account security, teenagers tend to be less conscious of this, which led many to hand over their accounts." In some cases, teenagers threatened younger peers in their neighborhood or school to take their accounts and sell them, becoming deeply involved in the distribution of these so-called "shell accounts." Police are also conducting a separate investigation into charges of coercion in these cases.

The police believe the group operated out of bases in China or Cambodia, and are continuing their investigation into overseas ringleaders who have not yet been apprehended.