South Korean police have dismantled an online fraud organisation based in Cambodia that targeted South Koreans. The organisation obtained six billion won, about US$4.3 million, through its scams.
The Japanese edition of South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported on the day of this article that Daegu police had announced the arrest and transfer of 12 people, including A, 26, the Korean-side overall leader of the fraud organisation operating in Cambodia. Another 14 people, including the organisation’s domestic money-laundering planner, were also indicted on the same suspicions.
According to police, from July last year to May this year, A and the others operated from a scam compound in Cambodia, sending paid-dating advertisements and other messages through social networks (SNS) to people in South Korea before defrauding them. A total of 136 people paid membership fees amounting to 6.41 billion won.
Investigators found that, during the period of offending, the organisation not only conducted such online scams but also accepted and carried out money-laundering commissions for other fraud organisations in Cambodia.
In April this year, after Daegu’s Gangbuk Police Station arrested two domestic money-laundering members of A’s organisation, the Daegu police mobile criminal investigation team began working with the South Korean embassy in Cambodia and other bodies to pursue its overall leader.
Officers stationed in Cambodia and cooperation through Interpol subsequently helped locate A’s hiding place in Phnom Penh. He was arrested in October with assistance from local police.
Investigators found that A’s organisation maintained offices and shared dormitories within the criminal compound and carried out romance scams and other forms of online fraud.
The division of responsibilities was as follows: A, the Korean-side leader, recruited and managed scam workers, recruited domestic financial-account nominees or bank-account holders acting as fronts, and coordinated the domestic money-laundering organisation. B, the Chinese-side joint overall leader, remained unidentified but handled core tasks including management of the entire compound and raising the organisation’s operating funds. Police were continuing to establish B’s identity.
Daegu police said: “Telecommunications fraud methods, including romance scams, have recently become increasingly sophisticated and losses have grown larger. People must remain alert and avoid being deceived.”
