"Tell Me Your Banking App Password" — Man in His 20s Sentenced to Prison for Swindling Hundreds of Thousands of Won from Victims

[Financial News] A man in his 20s was sentenced to prison after deceiving victims he met through a chat app, obtaining their mobile banking account information, and stealing hundreds of thousands of won.
According to the legal community on the 30th, the Seoul Southern District Court’s 11th Criminal Division (Judge Jung Sung-hwa) sentenced Mr. A, a man in his 20s who was tried on charges of computer fraud, to 10 months in prison.
On July 1 last year, Mr. A accessed the chat app '00 Maker' under a pseudonym, approached Mr. B by expressing interest, obtained Mr. B’s account information, and used it to withdraw 3.8 million won.
Mr. A told Mr. B, "I don’t have any living expenses right now, so I need to sell my shoes and clothes secondhand to cover our date expenses," and added, "To receive the money from the sale, I need four mobile banking accounts, so please sign up and send me your passwords and verification codes." He thus obtained Mr. B’s account information.
Three days later, Mr. A visited the home of Mr. C, whom he met through another chat app, and said, "I have money to receive from a friend, so please let me use your bank account and mobile banking account. Give me your password and verification code." Mr. C then provided his account information.
On the same day, Mr. A used Mr. B’s personal information to top up 3.8 million won to Mobile Banking Pay in seven transactions, withdrew 1.8 million won at a convenience store near Mr. C’s residence, and transferred the remaining 2 million won to Mr. C’s account, receiving the cash from Mr. C.
The next day, Mr. A withdrew a total of 900,000 won from another bank account under Mr. C’s name via Mobile Banking Pay, taking out 300,000 won at a time in three separate transactions. In this way, Mr. A defrauded the two victims out of a total of 4.7 million won.
The court stated, "Mr. A used the victims without any sense of guilt, simply thinking of making easy money. Considering the method, details, and amount of the crime, as well as the fact that the damage has not been recovered and Mr. A has a history of similar offenses, strict punishment is necessary."
psh@fnnews.com Park Sung-hyun Reporter