A Chinese-led criminal organization based in Cambodia has been uncovered for conducting romance scams by claiming that investing in well-known companies would result in large profits.
The Voice Phishing Crime Government Joint Investigation Task Force of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office announced on December 30 that it had indicted 11 members of the Cambodia-based criminal organization under detention and 2 without detention on charges including violations of the Act on the Recovery of Damages for Communication Fraud Crimes.
They are accused of deceiving victims by claiming that investing in SpaceX, the company run by Elon Musk, would yield significant returns, and fraudulently obtaining 1.93 billion won.
The group meticulously planned their crimes by preparing photos and personal information of women, as well as crime scripts, and impersonated young women who were both wealthy and attractive. Male members pretended to be women when chatting with male victims, and during phone calls, they involved female telemarketers to further deceive the victims.
They even created a fake SpaceX app as a channel to steal investment funds, inducing victims to install it. Once the victims' investments through the app were confirmed, the organization in Cambodia received the criminal proceeds in cryptocurrency or US dollars and then exchanged them into Korean won.
It was also found that they had prepared a false explanation in anticipation of an investigation, claiming, "We were lured to Cambodia by a job scam and had no other choice but to participate in the crime due to confinement and threats."
After eight months of intensive investigation, the task force identified 20 Korean members of the organization and is continuing to pursue the remaining seven who have not yet been apprehended.
A representative of the task force stated, "We will continue to track and apprehend every single participant so that no one escapes the investigation network. Those who have been arrested will face punishments commensurate with their crimes, and we will thoroughly recover the criminal proceeds."
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