"Is it okay since we did it this way last time?"... Gold left at the door with a 'take it' post, what happened?

[The Financial News] A scam attempt has been uncovered in which a seller lured buyers by offering gold bars at low prices through secondhand transactions, only to steal their money.
According to Yonhap News Agency on the 18th, informant A saw a post on the secondhand platform 'Karrot' the previous day, offering to sell ten pure gold bars at 740,000 won per 3.75g bar, and tried to make a deal.
The post included photos of the actual gold bars and a certificate of authenticity.
The previous day's gold price (purchase price) was 839,000 won per bar, so buying ten bars through this deal would have saved 1 million won.
When A, who needed gold bars, expressed interest in buying, seller B provided their apartment address and phone number, suggesting they meet at the apartment's main entrance.
However, even after the agreed time, B did not show up. Instead, B sent a text message saying, "I'm at work and told my wife, but she had to leave urgently, so I left the product hanging on the front door."
B then instructed A to transfer the payment to a bank account, promising to provide the apartment building, unit number, and door code so A could simply pick up the product. B even apologized and offered a 50,000 won discount.
B sent photos of the product hanging on the door and even included an ID card. B also forwarded a screenshot of a text message supposedly from his wife.
The message, sent by 'Beloved Wife♡', read: "Honey, I had to rush out to take my mom to the hospital, so I couldn't contact you. I left the gold in front of the house. It's okay, right? We did it this way last time too." The message was meant to reassure the buyer.
A said, "I was about to transfer the money to the account, fooled by the perfect lie, but suddenly realized it was suspicious to leave such an expensive item at the door." A added, "When I started asking B more questions, all contact was lost."
A also warned, "People who are not familiar with secondhand trading could easily fall for such scams."
According to the Police, the most common type of scam in secondhand trading involves sellers disappearing after receiving payment without delivering the goods.
A Police official stated, "If a seller tries to arrange a non-face-to-face transaction in secondhand trading, you should be suspicious. If you must proceed with a remote transaction due to unavoidable circumstances, it is best to use Escrow, a secure payment service where the seller receives payment only after the buyer confirms the product."
moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter