▲ Devices and routers seized by the police
A group of individuals has been apprehended by police for operating relay stations that disguised calls originating from overseas as domestic numbers starting with '010' to facilitate voice phishing crimes.
The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit announced that they have arrested 11 individuals, including a person in their 30s identified as A, on charges of violating the Telecommunications Business Act, and have detained 10 of them.
A and the others are accused of installing and operating phone number manipulation relay stations in studio apartments and goshiwons (small, low-cost housing units) around the Daejeon area, acting under the instructions of a voice phishing organization based overseas.
They used these relay stations to make calls from overseas appear as if they were being placed from within South Korea, connecting them to victims. Investigations revealed that some of these manipulated numbers were used in voice phishing crimes.
It was also confirmed that some members of the group installed relay equipment in rental cars and traveled across the country, including Seoul, Mokpo, and Daejeon, to evade police investigations.
The police raided 11 relay station locations and seized 1,304 items, including mobile phones, SIM cards, and routers.
The police plan to conduct further investigations to determine if they were all working under the same ringleader and participating in the same criminal organization.
A police official advised, "As investigative and financial institutions do not request money over the phone, please hang up immediately and report any suspicious calls."
(Photo courtesy of Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, Yonhap News)
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