Seoul's 'voice phishing grim reaper' task force closes after 4 years, 526 indicted

Achievements of the Eastern District Prosecutors' voice phishing joint investigation unit

1,381 booked, 526 detained and indicted over four years

Cold cases reopened, ringleaders tracked down and arrested

Systemic reforms introduced to prevent phishing crimes

Functions to be taken over by the new serious crimes agency

Members of a "no-show fraud" ring after their arrest by the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office voice phishing joint investigation unit in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. [Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office]

Ahead of the abolition of the prosecution service, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office voice phishing joint investigation unit announced the results of its four years of operations.

Launched in 2022, the unit focused on non-face-to-face fraud. Among its achievements, it dismantled a transnational criminal organization operating out of Cambodia that targeted victims in South Korea, and broke up a money-laundering network handling around 1.5 trillion won ($1.11 billion). The unit's voice phishing investigation functions will be taken over by the voice phishing joint investigation division of the new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.

The unit said Thursday it had booked a total of 1,381 suspects and detained and indicted 526 since its launch, and had recovered 36 billion won in criminal proceeds.

The unit traces its origins to July 2022, when it was established at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office as a pan-government joint investigation team to pool investigative and administrative resources from across the government to eradicate voice phishing crimes.

Members of a Cambodia-based no-show fraud ring immediately after their arrest at their accommodation by the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office voice phishing joint investigation unit. [Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office]

The pan-government investigative functions of the original joint team were later formalized into a permanent organizational structure, and the unit has operated as the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office voice phishing joint investigation unit since January this year.

The unit brought together more than 40 specialists from prosecutors, police, the Financial Supervisory Service, the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service and the Immigration Service, among other agencies.

The unit also reopened shelved cases to pursue justice for victims. It fully reviewed and reinvestigated a suspended case involving the ringleader of a voice phishing call center, ultimately tracking down and detaining a suspect who had evaded a wanted notice for 11 years after defrauding 288 victims of about 960 million won.

In another case, investigators reopened a file that had been closed without charges, uncovering evidence that a member of a voice phishing ring had defrauded 60 victims of about 2.7 billion won in 2019. The suspect was detained and indicted.

The unit also dismantled entire criminal organizations engaged in voice phishing, including one that had recruited active bank employees. Investigators uncovered a distribution network that set up 42 shell companies and opened 190 ghost bank accounts, which were then supplied to voice phishing rings. Twenty-four people, including bank employees, were booked and 12 were detained and indicted.

Ghost bank accounts seized by the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office voice phishing joint investigation unit. The unit dismantled a distribution network for ghost accounts that had recruited active bank employees. [Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office]

The unit also cracked down on a multinational organization that distributed equipment used to facilitate voice phishing. The group manipulated internet phone numbers used by Chinese voice phishing operations, converting "070" numbers to "010" numbers to deceive victims. Investigators booked 25 people in total, including the organization's domestic relay office manager, and detained and indicted 20.

Beyond investigations and indictments, the unit worked to prevent voice phishing victimization through systemic reforms. As cases of young job-seekers being recruited through job postings to collect cash on behalf of fraudsters continued to mount, the unit pushed for an amendment to the enforcement decree of the Employment Security Act in December 2022. The amendment required major job-search websites to post warnings about voice phishing cash-collection schemes disguised as high-paying part-time work.

The unit also took steps to prevent Chinese nationals residing in South Korea from being drawn into voice phishing schemes. It provided the Chinese Embassy with information on fraud methods, recruitment advertisements targeting Chinese nationals, and WeChat messages used in crimes, prompting the embassy to post warnings on WeChat and other platforms about the risks of participating as cash collectors.

The unit flagged a regulatory loophole that allowed bulk SIM card activations, leading to a cap of three lines per person. It also contributed to establishing an emergency transaction freeze system for accounts suspected of being used in voice phishing, as well as an emergency blocking system for phone numbers linked to such crimes.

"Even after the prosecution service transitions to a public prosecution office on Friday, we will build on the experience of the pan-government joint investigation team and strengthen cooperation with the relevant agencies we have worked with," a Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office official said. "We will also make full use of the expertise and know-how we have accumulated to ensure there are no gaps in the pan-government response to voice phishing crimes."

20ki@heraldcorp.com