Intentionally Bumping into Pedestrians in Crowded Areas to Extort 20 Million Won Under Guise of Repair Costs

A man in his 20s has been arrested for intentionally bumping into pedestrians in crowded shopping malls, dropping his smartphone, and pocketing around 20 million won in repair costs.

The Seoul Songpa Police Station announced on October 16 that it transferred the man in his 20s, identified as A, to the Seoul Eastern District Public Prosecutors Office on October 15 under custody on charges of fraud.

For five months starting in January, A targeted 38 pedestrians at a shopping mall in Songpa-gu, bumping into them, dropping his smartphone to break it, and demanding repair costs.

He is accused of defrauding a total of 22 million won using this method.

Investigations showed that the victims handed over the repair money without realizing they were being scammed.

Police initiated an investigation after one of the victims grew suspicious of A's behavior and reported it.

Suspecting that such a crime was not a one-time occurrence given the modus operandi, the investigation team analyzed bank transfer records and expanded the probe, identifying 37 additional victims.

It was found that most of the victims felt A's behavior leading to the demand for repair costs was strange, but thought it was not a matter worth reporting to the police.

Synthesizing these victim statements and other evidence, the investigation team obtained an arrest warrant this month and forwarded the case to the prosecutors office.

A failed to attend the initial pre-trial detention hearing (subpoena review) and fled, but was eventually apprehended after being tracked down.

A police official explained, "Rather than letting it end as a minor complaint case, we conducted a thorough investigation to uncover intelligent crimes where deceptive acts are difficult to easily detect and the resulting additional damages."

(Photo courtesy of Songpa Police Station, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.