Crackdown on 4 Billion Won 'Scam Gambling Site' Criminal Group
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Unit has apprehended an organization running illegal gambling sites that defrauded over 4 billion won from more than 300 victims.
On the 19th, the police announced in a briefing that they had arrested a total of 19 suspects, including the ringleader in his 40s, referred to as A, on charges of fraud and organized crime, with 10 of them being transferred for prosecution.
They are accused of establishing more than 250 so-called 'scam gambling sites' from December 2019 to September last year, fraudulently obtaining over 4 billion won from 334 victims. Their methods were sophisticated.
'Scam Gambling Sites'
Using pre-obtained personal information, they sent messages claiming "there are points that will soon expire on the gambling site" along with a link to the site, ID, and password to lure users in. Victims who accessed the site deposited money into the organization's dummy accounts to recharge their points.
Thorough scenarios to induce additional deposits
When victims requested to convert the points they collected through gambling into cash, the perpetrators used excuses such as "system errors" to delay withdrawals and demanded further deposits.
After running a site for 2–3 weeks, they would close it and disappear, then set up a new site by changing names and addresses, repeatedly following this process.
They prepared various scenarios in anticipation of victims' cash conversion requests.
They deceived victims by claiming, "a code verification is necessary for accounts that haven't been used for a long time," making them enter difficult codes, and then misled them by saying "system issues occurred due to input errors," thus prompting additional deposits.
For larger amounts, they demanded extra deposits by claiming, "if a large sum is withdrawn at once, there is a concern that the Financial Supervisory Service will detect the illegal site, so income tax must be paid first."
As a result, victims of various ages, genders, and occupations were affected, including minors.
The amount defrauded from each victim ranged from a minimum of several hundred thousand won to a maximum of 150 million won.
Organized crime and evasion from law enforcement
The core suspects, including ringleader A, were composed of friends and acquaintances in their 20s to 40s, with involvement periods varying from 3 months to 5 years.
To prevent member defections and evade law enforcement, they lived communally at their residences and frequently changed offices and mobile phones.
This group’s crimes initially began in the Philippines and later established offices in South Korea, operating concurrently in both countries.
The police confiscated cash worth approximately 1.17 billion won at the scene, recovering a total of 2.45 billion won in criminal proceeds.
A police official stated, "The methods of demanding additional deposits for currency exchange are quite thorough, resulting in victims being helplessly dragged along, which is similar to voice phishing." He emphasized the necessity for caution against malicious scam gambling schemes that lure victims with advertisements that incite curiosity and gambling impulses.
Image source: Luring messages from gambling sites. / Photo provided by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Unit, photo provided by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Unit, resource photos to aid understanding of the article / gettyimagesbank
