Attempted Transfer After KakaoTalk Message Saying "Send 5 Million Won"
Romance Scam Thwarted After 30 Minutes of Persuasion by Nonghyup Staff and Police
A woman in her 70s was on the verge of sending 10 million won after falling victim to a “romance scam,” but she ultimately avoided any loss thanks to the persuasion of a Nonghyup employee and police officers.
According to the Iksan Police Station in Jeonbuk on February 3, at around 9 a.m. on the 20th of last month, a report was filed by an employee at a Nonghyup branch in Iksan stating, “The KakaoTalk messages of a grandmother who is trying to withdraw her time deposit seem suspicious.”
On the 20th of last month at the Iksan Nonghyup Dongsan branch in Iksan, Jeonbuk, a person in their 70s, deceived by a "romance scam" KakaoTalk message (left), was about to transfer money when a bank teller, sensing something was wrong, stopped them. Screenshot from a YouTube video by the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency
When responding officers checked, they found that Ms. A, a woman in her 70s, had exchanged numerous KakaoTalk messages with a person believed to be a foreigner and was about to send 10 million won.
The person in the KakaoTalk chat sent a video showing a pile of gold bars and then wrote messages such as, “This is originally worth about 5 billion won. But the seller brought it from Australia and wants to sell it very cheaply,” and “I am wondering if you would like to invest with me to buy this item and earn 5 billion won together.” The person then added, “Do you understand my love?” The phrasing was awkward, as if it had been run through a translation tool.
Bank employee Lee Seungho, after checking the chat window, immediately sensed it was a romance scam and called 112. While Lee delayed processing the transfer, Police Officer Go Eunsung from the Pyeonghwa Police Substation of the Iksan Police Station and others arrived.
Officer Go Eunsun of the Pyeonghwa Police Substation explained to Ms. A that this was a romance scam method, but Ms. A did not understand. It turned out that she had an intellectual disability.
Even in front of the police, Ms. A hid the real reason for the transfer, saying it was “money to use for living expenses.” The bank staff and police continued persuading her for more than 30 minutes, telling her, “This is not a real person; it is someone committing fraud through lies,” and ultimately succeeded in stopping the transfer.
A bank official said, “We regularly receive training related to voice phishing, and because this case matched what we learned, I realized it was a romance scam.” Officer Go said, “After explaining for more than 30 minutes, we were able to prevent the damage and safely hand her over to her guardian,” and added, “The police do not take any report lightly, so we urge related organizations, bank employees, and citizens to report actively.”
Meanwhile, there were 313 romance scam cases in the Jeonbuk region last year, more than four times the 76 cases in 2024. An official from the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency said, “To prevent romance scams, you should refrain from indiscriminately adding friends on social media, and you must never send money in response to online contacts.”
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