Korean Scam Ring Arrested in Kazakhstan After Fleeing Southeast Asian Crackdowns

[Anchor]

A ring of 19 South Koreans engaging in voice phishing and text-based financial scams has been captured. After operating out of Southeast Asia, they fled to Kazakhstan as crackdowns intensified to continue their crimes.

Reporter Lee Se-hyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Police check the cell phones of men standing with their hands behind their backs.

[That's mine.]

Men who were facing the wall get into vehicles one after another.

These are members of an organization that committed scam crimes, including voice phishing and text message financial fraud, in Kazakhstan.

Investigations showed that after setting up a call center in Almaty, Kazakhstan, they impersonated government agencies such as the Financial Supervisory Service, the prosecution, and courts, swindling 600 million won from 16 victims.

They used methods such as approaching victims under the pretext of picking up Supreme Court registered mail, then tricking them into believing their accounts were linked to a crime and forcing them to transfer money themselves.

The Special Task Force on Transnational Crime arrested 14 members in Almaty on June 23 and repatriated all of them, while also apprehending 5 members who were staying in South Korea.

All 19 individuals are South Korean.

Investigations revealed that they originally operated out of Cambodia as their base, but as local crackdowns intensified, they moved through Vietnam, and starting in April of this year, relocated their base to Kazakhstan to carry out their crimes.

[Kim Byung-joo, Head of the International Cooperation Division 1 at the Korean National Police Agency: Even if criminal organizations hide in remote and unfamiliar regions like the other side of the globe, we will track them down to the end and bring them to justice to protect the safety of our citizens.]

Police have already detained 14 of the 19 suspects and plan to pursue detention warrants for the remaining 5 as a matter of principle.

They are also tracking down other members who fled to other countries, including Southeast Asia, as well as two higher-ups of Chinese nationality—a mastermind and a manager—currently located in China.

(Video Editing: So Ji-hye, Design: Park Tae-young, Footage courtesy of: Korean National Police Agency)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.