Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

A man who found a lost credit card used it at locations across the country and bought gold bars worth more than 1.8 million won ($1,330), yet police were unable to identify him and have classified the case as unsolved.

According to JTBC's "Sageon Banjang," a crime-affairs program, the victim, identified only as A, discovered last November that her credit card had been used without her knowledge after checking a backlog of payment notification messages on her phone.

"I mainly use mobile payment apps and rarely use my physical card, so I didn't even realize I had lost it," A said. "It was a busy period at the time, so I wasn't checking my messages properly."

It turned out that A had left the card at an unmanned print shop next to her store three days earlier, and someone had picked it up and used it.

The card was first used at an e-cigarette store near the print shop, then at a taxi, a train, a movie theater and other places. The man who found the card traveled across multiple regions — from Hongdae in Seoul to Gimpo, Cheongnyangni, Daejeon, Jecheon and Cheongju.

A canceled the card and filed a police report, but even afterward she received alerts that two more payment attempts had been made with the card.

At a gold exchange in Gimpo, a charge of 1.86 million won was processed. When A contacted the exchange and reviewed its CCTV footage, a man estimated to be in his early 20s appeared in front of the store with a woman carrying a backpack.

The man entered the store alone and bought two one-don gold bars. When his first card was declined, he produced A's card and completed the 1.86 million won transaction.

After leaving the store with the gold bars, the man appeared to perform a kicking motion, then ran off with the woman who had been waiting outside.

Despite the man's face being clearly captured on CCTV, police have still been unable to identify him.

A said she followed up on the investigation by phone and email after filing the report, but was told each time that a lack of leads made tracking the suspect difficult.

About six months after the initial report, A received notice in May that the case had been classified as unsolved.

"We mobilized every resource available — tracing the suspect's movements through CCTV, conducting canvassing investigations and pursuing stolen-goods inquiries — but we were unable to confirm his identity," a police official said, adding that an unsolved classification does not mean the investigation is over. Police have registered the man's face in a nationwide police network under a fast-track wanted-persons alert and plan to reopen the investigation if his identity is confirmed.


choigo@heraldcorp.com