Arrest of group that collected 4 million identities of sex buyers through app, earning 4.6 billion won
The Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency arrested a group that illegally collected the personal information of visitors or contacts of sex trade establishments and provided it to sex trade operators throughout the nation.
It has been revealed that they earned illegal profits worth approximately 4.6 billion won through a mobile app that contained about 4 million phone numbers of sex buyers.
On the 18th, the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency's Crime Prevention Response Division announced that they had arrested A (31) and B (29) on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act and the Act on the Regulation of Criminal Proceeds and transferred them to the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office.
They are suspected of providing the mobile app, which stored around 4 million phone numbers of sex buyers, to over 2,500 sex trade operators nationwide for a monthly fee of 100,000 won from March 2023 to March this year.
The nature and operation of the illegal app
This app illegally collected and databased the personal information of men who had visited or inquired about sex trade establishments.
Not only were simple contact details recorded, but also detailed characteristics of the subjects, including usage frequency, reputation, and sexual preferences. Sex trade operators used this app to filter out 'problematic' customers in advance and to check whether individuals were police officers to avoid crackdowns.
A started the crime upon the suggestion of a developer, presumed to be Chinese, whom he met while running a gambling site in Cebu, Philippines.
Together with an acquaintance, B, who traveled between Korea and the Philippines, they advertised the app on sex trade sites and provided it to interested sex trade operators via Telegram.
App usage fees and the money laundering process
The usage fees were structured as follows: 100,000 won for 1 month, 180,000 won for 2 months, 250,000 won for 3 months, and 450,000 won for 6 months, with discounts for long-term use. To securely secure the criminal proceeds, A and others utilized a specialized money laundering organization.
This organization received fees from sex trade operators via dummy accounts and subsequently passed the illegal proceeds to A and others through multiple dummy accounts.
Of the total criminal proceeds of approximately 4.6 billion won, half was handed over to the app developer, presumed to be Chinese, while the other half was divided between A and B.
A enjoying a luxurious lifestyle with criminal proceeds. / Photo provided by Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency [IMAGE]
They are reported to have led a luxurious lifestyle with these proceeds.
The police became aware of the existence of the app during a crackdown on sex trade establishments in November 2023 and initiated an investigation.
Following the detection of sex trade operators and the tracing of funds, they sequentially arrested 12 members of the money laundering organization, and this year, A and B were also apprehended.
The police applied for pre-indictment confiscation of over 2.34 billion won that they had illegally obtained.
A police official stated, “The app provided to sex trade operators has been blocked to prevent further use,” and added, “We will continue the investigation into the app developer.”
Image sources: A's operation of the app. / Photo provided by Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, Vehicles purchased with criminal proceeds by A and others. / Photo provided by Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, A enjoying a luxurious lifestyle with criminal proceeds. / Photo provided by Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency.
