"Kidnapping" Voice Phishing Increases

As increasingly more parents worry about their children’s safety after the recent spate of crimes against children, the number of voice phishing scams faking child abduction is growing.

Offenders employ mean tactics of letting parents listen to a child’s scream in an attempt to shake them up and force them not to report to the police.

A 53-year-old man, identified by his family name Lee, living in Seoul, received a phone call around 11:20 a.m. The caller threatened that he kidnapped Lee’s son, demanding 20 million won. The kidnapper let him hear the child’s voice crying for help.

In order to prevent Lee from reporting to the police, the caller demanded Lee not to hang up and go directly to a nearby bank. He also called Lee’s wife to accompany her husband.

Fortunately, Lee met police patrolling the area on his way to the bank, and handed over a note informing that his son was abducted. Lee did not fall into the victim as the police confirmed Lee’s son was at school at that moment.

Another person, A, living in Gangnam, Seoul, also received a similar voice phishing fraud on Tuesday.

Threatening his son had been abducted, the caller had him hear a boy asking to follow the order over the phone.

The caller also asked A’s cell phone number to prevent him from reporting to the police. One of the neighbors who was visiting his home, however, called A’s son and confirmed that he was not kidnapped, and the culprit hung up the phone immediately.

Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service on Thursday urged caution about the increasing cases of voice phishing fraud pretending kidnapping students studying overseas or tourists, demanding money from the families in Korea.

The government agency reported that a similar fraud case happened last August where a person who had his son study English at a university in the United States was duped by a voice phishing message and wired 3 million won to a domestic bank account.