Elderly Couple Saved from 1.5 Billion Won Voice Phishing Scam by Police Intervention

An elderly couple in their 80s who were on the verge of losing 1.5 billion won—their life savings—to a voice phishing scam have been saved thanks to police intervention.

According to the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency's Metropolitan Prevention Patrol on Monday (June 22), an 80-year-old resident of Goyang, identified as A, received a phone call on June 15.

The caller, claiming to be a local government office employee, said, "Someone brought a power of attorney claiming you wrote it, and I am calling to verify its authenticity."

When A replied that they had never written such a document, the caller began to intimidate them, saying, "It seems your personal information has been leaked."

Subsequently, A received calls from individuals impersonating officials from the Financial Supervisory Service and the prosecution, who deceived the victim by claiming, "Your bank account is involved in a crime, and you are already under investigation as a suspect."

During this process, the scammers also induced A to install a malicious app on their smartphone that allowed for remote control.

When A accessed the Supreme Prosecutors' Office website via their phone to check, they actually found their own name and a case number listed.

Although it was a fake site created by the criminal organization through the malicious app, A had no choice but to believe it.

Ultimately, believing the claim that "we must first verify if the funds in your account were used for criminal activity, so you must prepare to transfer them," the couple consolidated their entire fortune of 1.5 billion won into one account and were preparing to wire the money.

At that moment, the police, who were monitoring smartphones with records of accessing malicious sites due to the installation of such apps, identified A and dispatched officers to their location.

Upon meeting the couple, the officers removed the malicious app and placed a freeze on the account just before the money could be transferred, successfully preventing the crime.

Initially distrustful of the officers, the couple later realized they had been deceived. "We never dreamed that voice phishing would happen to us," they said, expressing their gratitude. "It was our entire life savings, and we are so thankful to the officers for saving it. We will remember this for the rest of our lives."

The Metropolitan Prevention Patrol's "Targeted Phishing Crime Prevention Activity" is based on the fact that voice phishing crimes often begin with the installation of malicious apps or access to malicious websites. Since February 20, the unit has played a role in preventing voice phishing damage by reaching out to over 400 potential victims.

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