`Crime ring earned $35,400 per day from voice phishing`

Police have arrested a voice phishing gang who allegedly stole 40 million won (35,400 U.S. dollars) a day on average. With the money, the con artists are known to have earned profits by buying clothes and shoes and reselling them in China.

In Seoul’s Songpa district Thursday, police said 11 people were booked on the charge of stealing more than 5.5 billion won (4.9 million won) via voice phishing. Arrest warrants were requested for five of them, including a man in charge of Korean businesses, and the remaining six suspects were indicted without detention, including the person who wired the ill-gotten money to China.

Gang members reportedly divided their roles into withdrawal, wire transfer and money laundering and received directions from a so-called school in Shenyang, China, the base of their operations. They also called Koreans to induce them to transfer money by saying they were prosecutors and police officers or that they kidnapped a relative.

If the school informed them of a money transfer, they withdrew the money with cash cards. Because the pilfered amount reached 40 million won a day, they purchased automatic counters to count bills.

When the person in charge of wire transfer to China ran away with 18 million won (16,000 dollars), certain gang members even transferred the money out of their own pockets to avoid losing their high-paying jobs.

They laundered the money by purchasing goods in Korea and sending them to China. Sisters in their 20s in charge of money laundering bought clothes and shoes popular among Chinese women at markets in Seoul`s Dongdaemun district and sent them to China. A Chinese organization receiving the goods ran wholesale businesses in China to sell them legally. Police said, “The Chinese organization gained more profits from the sale of Korean clothing than from voice phishing.”

tigermask@donga.com