"Me Too, Sister": The Nightmare Begins—Why I Sent 140 Million Won With My Own Hands

Last October, victim A was scammed out of 3.8 million won while trading a used car.

However, that was not the end.

In April of this year, a second nightmare began when A happened to see an advertisement on social media promising to recover scammed money.

[Fraud Victim: I tried to buy a used car for 3.8 million won on Daangn, and the seller asked me to trust them and send the money first because they needed to use it urgently, so I sent it. (Last April) There was an advertisement on social media claiming to be a certain law firm that recovers scammed money. From then on, my debts kept piling up. Eventually, when I couldn't get any more money, they suddenly blocked me and went off the grid.]

The individuals posing as a law firm even sent A a lawyer's ID card, a Korean Bar Association registration certificate, and a plausible-sounding contract.

There was no deposit required. Instead, they claimed they would only take a 20 percent success fee after recovering the money.

Then, a strange thing happened.

The gang claimed that the 3.8 million won A lost had flowed into a casino in Macau, and to get it back, A had to gamble directly and win the money.

To achieve this, the gang even mobilized an "IT technician."

[Fraud Victim: They said that because the (scammed 3.8 million won) went abroad, it couldn't be recovered directly and could be retrieved by playing a Macau game. (Then) they introduced me to an IT technician. The technician said they would do it for me, and that's when it started.]

The gang invited A to a chat room for a victim support group of about 20 people, reassuring A by claiming that others were recovering their money in the same way.

They also brainwashed A into believing that this was a legitimate process to recover money rather than gambling, and built trust by responding to A's messages day and night.

[Fraud Victim: When it was around 5.17 million won, something went wrong and (the account) was frozen, so the gaming site wouldn't let me view it. They said I had to deposit the exact same amount of 5.17 million won, so I deposited it.]

As demands to make additional deposits in order to make withdrawals were repeated, A ended up losing an additional 140 million won instead of recovering the initial 3.8 million won.

When A could no longer secure more money, the gang cut off contact and vanished.

Experts warn that so-called "recovery scams" are on the rise, advising people not to sign contracts based solely on social media advertisements and to always meet lawyers in person for verification before signing any contracts.

(Produced by Lee Se-young | Video editing: Choi Gang-san | Video source: News Hunters | Production: SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.