A criminal ring that extorted approximately 1.8 billion won (around $1.3 million) by luring victims with fake prostitution offers involving celebrities while based in Thailand has been busted in a massive police crackdown.

The Seoul Songpa Police Station announced today (Nov. 3) that it has sequentially referred 10 syndicate members to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office starting last July on charges including joining and operating a criminal organization and violating the Act on Prevention of Damage from Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud.

Among them, nine members were handed over to the prosecutors office in custody.

The Songpa Police Station also referred 14 holders of borrowed-name accounts used in the crimes without detention.

About 10 others involved in the crime have also been booked and are under investigation.

The gang is accused of operating multiple fake prostitution websites targeting men who expressed intent to purchase sex, tricking them into believing additional fees were required during the security verification process.

Individual victims paid anywhere from a minimum of 20,000 won up to more than 100 million won under the guise of website registration fees and security review costs.

One man was defrauded of some 150 million won across 16 transactions under various pretexts such as a deposit to meet a sex worker, security verification fees, system restoration fees, withdrawal data fees, and credit score restoration fees.

During this process, fabricated scenarios were even utilized, claiming that the sex workers were influencers, models, and other celebrities who wished to avoid having their identities exposed.

Police explained that analyzing the criminal accounts revealed the total estimated damage to be around 1.77 billion won.

This is the result of investigating about 100 out of 200 accounts used in the crimes, and the total amount of damage could increase depending on the status of the remaining accounts.

The number of victims identified so far is around 100, spanning men in their 20s to 40s.

Police did not separately book these victims, as the laws related to prostitution do not contain provisions for punishing attempts.

To evade a crackdown by investigative authorities, the syndicate rented an entire four-story villa in Bangkok, Thailand, to set up an office and recruited members via Telegram and other messaging apps.

It was revealed that they meticulously managed the organization by establishing a hierarchical structure ranging from a supreme ringleader down to counselors, and even forcing members to live together in group lodgings to prevent defection.

In addition, circumstances showing preparation for police investigations were captured, such as changing their criminal schemes every two weeks based on 19 borrowed-name accounts.

Police began their full-scale investigation into this organization in June.

Having received intelligence from the National Intelligence Service and the Songpa Police Station that a local scam organization was active, the police conducted a joint operation in cooperation with Thai authorities and arrested seven suspects in Bangkok on June 22 of that year.

Following this, they repatriated the suspects to South Korea in three waves through early August and took over 53 pieces of evidence related to the crimes.

Police are also tracking down the remaining syndicate members, including a ringleader surnamed Lee who directed them and plotted the crimes.

Arrest warrants have been issued for eight individuals believed to be staying overseas, and requests have been made to Interpol for Red Notices.

A police official advised that if an unidentified person encountered online demands registration fees, commissions, or remittances, it should be immediately suspected as a phishing crime, and if suspicion arises, individuals should decisively cut ties and promptly end SNS conversations as well.

(Photo provided by Songpa Police Station, Yonhap News)