Duped by fake prosecutor, man trapped in motel for 50 hours... Police prevent 42 million won loss

【Financial News, Uijeongbu = Reporter Kim Kyung-soo】 A man in his 30s who was duped by a voice phishing ring posing as prosecutors was trapped in a motel for about 50 hours before police rescued him through persuasion.
According to police on the 28th, the Metropolitan Preventive Patrol Unit of the Gyeonggi Northern Police Agency rescued A, a voice phishing victim, from a motel in Seoul’s Gangdong-gu on the 22nd.
The incident began on the 20th, when A received a call from someone who introduced themself as a prosecutor with the Public Prosecution Office. The caller falsely claimed that an account in A’s name had been used in a crime and that an arrest warrant had been issued.
A member of the ring told A not to tell anyone around him about the case. They tricked him by saying they would help him undergo a simplified investigation instead of being detained in a detention center. Believing them, A made an excuse that an urgent matter had come up at work and went to a motel in Seoul’s Gangdong-gu.
The member had A buy an additional mobile phone and install a remote-control malware app. They used it to control his calls. Even when A called the Financial Supervisory Service to verify the information, a member of the ring answered on his behalf.
They also forced A to write a letter of apology at the motel. Over three days, he wrote on his phone’s memo app an amount of text equivalent to about 45 sheets of A4 paper. The members made him send them the contents frequently. They even gave him voice phishing prevention lessons, claiming this was necessary to prove he was a victim.
The ring later pushed A to take out a loan, claiming it was for an investigation to trace the account. A transferred 31 million won. The ring then demanded that he take out an additional loan.
Police persuasion was what rescued A. Police had received information from the Joint Response Team for Telecommunications Financial Fraud about people suspected of installing malicious apps and who were difficult to reach. A was on the list.
When police contacted A, he tried to end the call, believing the ring’s claim that police calling from a mobile phone number were fake. Police called him several times, explained the proper investigation procedures and persuaded him to visit the nearest police station. They even let him hear their radio communications to show that they were genuine police officers.
After confirming that A was awaiting approval for an additional loan of 42 million won, police requested assistance from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. While heading to the scene, they asked the financial company to halt the loan approval process, then rescued A from the motel.
Police tried to freeze the account to recover the 31 million won already transferred, but all the money had already been withdrawn.
A police official described it as “a case in which the victim, due to the ring’s threats and psychological control, could not even believe that the actual police officers were who they said they were,” and urged people: “If you receive a suspicious call, do not follow the other party’s instructions and report it to 112 immediately.”
[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter