The police prevented a man from losing tens of millions of won to a romance scam, a scheme in which perpetrators pretend to be romantically interested in their victims to gain their affection and then demand money or investments.
On November 23, the Mobile Patrol Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it had discovered a man in his 60s who was about to fall victim to a romance scam, successfully preventing a loss of 20 million won.
The police have recently increased patrols in the Cheonho-dong area of Gangdong-gu, Seoul, in response to a knife rampage incident, aiming to alleviate local residents' concerns. On November 6 at approximately 6:44 p.m., officers noticed a man in his 60s acting suspiciously, repeatedly looking at his phone and glancing around, and proceeded to question him.
The man explained that he had been in contact with a woman through a chat app for two months and had started a relationship with her. At the time, he was arguing with her about sending 20 million won to cover her entry expenses into the country.
Upon closely reviewing their chat history, the police identified the case as a romance scam, in which the perpetrator had built a sense of intimacy by behaving like a romantic partner through social networking services (SNS) and then requested a money transfer. The police explained this to the man, successfully preventing any financial loss.
A police official stated, "If someone approaches you through SNS and asks for money or investment, you should always suspect a scam."
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