Vietnam-based 10 billion won mobile smishing crime ring completely destroyed
The National Police Agency (Chief Cho Ji-ho) announced that it had arrested 7 members of an overseas organization that had committed mobile smishing crimes with domestic members while operating an office in Vietnam through a joint investigation with the Vietnamese public security, and forcibly repatriated 3 people, including the ringleader, through Incheon International Airport on Saturday, September 14, 2024. Through this, a total of 86 domestic and foreign suspects were arrested, and in particular, 7 out of 8 members of the organization operating overseas were caught. Excluding 1 person who is currently imprisoned locally, 6 key members, including the ringleader and the money launderer, were repatriated to Korea, effectively ‘destroying’ the overseas fraud organization.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Police Agency first received a report of a victim of fraud after receiving a mobile invitation in July 2023. After determining that this was a mobile smishing case, they began a full-scale investigation. The investigation team analyzed the transaction details of approximately 300,000 virtual and corporate accounts, including 70 accounts that received the money, and arrested two Vietnamese members of the domestic organization and detained one.
Through intensive investigations, eight overseas members of the organization were identified, and it was revealed that a total of 230 victims and approximately 10 billion won in damages occurred due to ‘invitations’, ‘obituaries’, ‘delivery texts’, and ‘texts impersonating children’ sent from overseas. Through this, the police began full-scale international cooperation in September 2023 to dismantle the overseas base organization and prevent further damage.
The National Police Agency has been sharing information on criminal organizations based on a strong relationship of trust with the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and has been pushing for arrests. In the ‘Interpol Fugitive Tracking Operation’ held in Seoul in June, clues to the whereabouts of members of the organization were shared with the police of neighboring countries, preventing escapes to third countries. In the process, two members of the organization turned themselves in after feeling pressured, and in August, the Vietnamese Public Security arrested three more.
A police official said, “This is an exemplary case of dismantling an overseas-based criminal organization through cooperation with local judicial authorities,” and added, “We will continue to respond strongly to new and malicious fraud crimes through cooperation across all police departments and cooperation between countries.”
Editor. Hong Se-yeong
