A forged official document used in the scam. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
A forged official document used in the scam. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Saturday warned small business owners to be on high alert after a series of fraud cases emerged in which scammers posed as city civil servants, claimed to be offering small business support, and steered victims into purchasing equipment from specific vendors.

In the confirmed cases, fraudsters approached business owners under the pretext of a program titled "Support for installing identity-verification kiosks to prevent voice phishing and money laundering in the precious metals trade," promising to cover the full cost of kiosk installation while directing them to buy the equipment upfront through a designated company.

The fraudulent documents bore the Seoul Metropolitan Government's name and logo and included phrases such as "100 percent of installation costs covered," "on-site inspection," and "subject to administrative action and fines if not installed" — all designed to make the scheme appear to be a legitimate city support program or official inspection. A key feature of the scam was the instruction that "installation and registration through a designated company is mandatory," followed by a promise to reimburse the purchase price to the business owner's account after an on-site check and document submission — a "buy first, get reimbursed later" arrangement intended to pressure victims into paying.

The fraudsters also used scare tactics to rush business owners into making purchases. The fake notices stated that on-site inspections would begin from a certain date and warned that failure to install a kiosk could result in administrative action and fines.

The city said business owners must stay vigilant against impersonation crimes that exploit its genuine small business support programs. Full details of Seoul's small business comprehensive support projects are available on the city's official website.

The city said that if someone claiming to be a Seoul or district-level civil servant contacts a business owner by phone or text, introduces a specific vendor and requests a purchase or upfront payment, the owner should immediately halt the transaction and verify the facts. Rather than calling back on a number provided by the contact, owners should look up the main switchboard or relevant department number directly on the Seoul Metropolitan Government or district office website and call to confirm whether the program is real and whether the named employee actually works there.

"Recently, impersonators have been cleverly combining public institution support programs with administrative inspections and even using forged official documents and business cards to win the trust of small business owners," said Lee Yeon-hwa, head of the city's Fair Economy Division. "Even if a contact appears to be from Seoul or a city official, if you receive a proposal to buy a specific product or transfer money upfront with a promise of reimbursement later, stop the transaction immediately and verify directly with the relevant agency."


ikson@heraldcorp.com