Photo not related to article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo not related to article. [Getty Images Bank]

A man approached a small-business owner as if he were a familiar customer, borrowed money under the pretense of an urgent situation, and then disappeared.

The story of A, who runs a one-person hair-dyeing salon in Incheon, was recently featured on JTBC's "Sageon Banjang," a TV crime-news program.

According to A, a man walked into the store late last month and greeted her warmly, saying, "You remember me, right? I came in before with my wife and mother-in-law."

When A said she could not quite place him, the man replied smoothly, "Oh, you don't remember — that's fine," and kept the conversation going.

The man then told A he needed to get somewhere urgently but had no money for transportation, and asked to borrow some, promising he would have his wife return it later.

When A said she only had 50,000 won ($33), the man said that was fine and pocketed the money without hesitation.

According to A, the man had played on her sympathy by explaining that he and his wife had argued, she had driven off with the car — and his wallet was inside it — and he had somewhere he urgently needed to be.

To avoid raising suspicion, he left his own name, his wife's name and a phone number, promising his wife would stop by to repay the money around 4:30 p.m. after picking up their child from school.

The promised hour came and went with no sign of the man. When A called the two contact numbers he had written down, entirely different people answered — revealing that both numbers were fake.

A ultimately filed a police report, but officers told her only that it was "a scheme that has come up from time to time," and the investigation has made no meaningful progress since.

"Setting aside the amount, what makes me angry is that I was deceived," A said. "I decided to come forward because I think solo operators running a store on their own need to be particularly careful."


choigo@heraldcorp.com