A voice phishing organization based in Bangkok, Thailand, has been arrested by police ...

A voice phishing organization based in Bangkok, Thailand, has been arrested by police. They are accused of impersonating a prosecutor, showing the victims an arrest warrant, confining themselves to a motel, and stealing money under the pretext of a "case-solving deposit." It was also used as a means of mental control by making sexual exploitation photographs using a body as an excuse.

On the 13th, the Financial Crime Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they swindled 6.7 billion won from 68 victims from May to December last year.

In December last year, the police arrested nine members, including the Korean chief A, and repatriated and detained them in Korea. Two more people who entered Korea were then arrested and additionally compensated for KRW 157 million in criminal proceeds. The government plans to continue tracking down nine suspects who have not yet been arrested.

The phishing organization set up a "call center" in a building in Bangkok, Thailand, and distributed the roles of first-term (prosecutor investigator), second-term (prosecutor), and third-term (Financial Supervisory Service employee) to its members.

The first line randomly called victims with a pre-secured victim database and asked them to access the prosecution office's website, which was falsely opened, saying, "Your bank account has been cracked down on criminal money laundering and an arrest warrant has been issued." He then showed a forged criminal fund crackdown notice and arrest warrant, threatening, "The prosecutor will call you, so take it and follow the instructions." It is known that the charges they presented in the arrest warrant are usually in violation of the Special Act on Prostitution.

The second line, who played the role of prosecutor, called the victim again and instructed him to "enter a nearby motel because a summary investigation is needed from now on." He also pressured him to take off all his clothes and photograph and transmit the body on his mobile phone, saying he needed a physical examination before arrest.

The third-term, who impersonated an employee of the Financial Supervisory Service, pretended to comfort the frightened victim by calling and tricking him, saying, "You have to pay a deposit to the Financial Supervisory Service to solve the case."

These organizations are known to have operated according to the thorough distribution of roles. After preparing a call center office, member accommodation, and computers in Bangkok, Mr. B, the Chinese chief, recruited Korean A and subordinate members to form a total of 24 criminal groups.

They distributed profits by continuously familiarizing their members with the crime method and giving them more allowances by promoting them from first to second to third according to their work performance. In order to take control of the organization, he took away the passports of members, set work rules, and threatened to disclose them to the police if they violated them, or beat them.

A police official said, "This case is characterized by a vicious criminal method that photographs sexual exploitation beyond extortion of money and uses it as a means of mental control," adding, "No state agency, such as the prosecution and the Financial Supervisory Service, conducts physical searches at a motel or receives deposits in the name of solving the case, so never respond to the request and report it to the police immediately."