Police Arrest Voice Phishing Ringleader, Malware Supplier in China

BUSAN — A ringleader who ran a voice phishing operation out of China and a supplier who built malicious apps capable of intercepting phone calls have been repatriated or returned to South Korea and referred to prosecutors in custody after an international investigation.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's narcotics and international crime investigation unit said on the 28th that it had arrested and referred to prosecutors a man in his 50s, identified as A, who led a voice phishing ring based in China's Guangdong Province and elsewhere, and another man in his 50s, identified as B, who produced and supplied the malicious apps.

Police said A is accused of posing as financial institutions and using the promise of loans to take 1.5 billion won ($1 million) from 145 victims between June 2013 and July 2015. The ring divided roles among call center team leaders, agents and domestic cash collectors. Victims were told they had to pay upfront fees to raise their credit ratings or cover guarantee insurance premiums before a loan could be approved, then wired the money.

B is accused of producing and supplying malicious apps, including call-interception features, to voice phishing rings between May 2018 and January 2019. Investigators found that 125 victims lost 1 billion won in related crimes.

Police identified signs of the two men's involvement while investigating members of an existing voice phishing ring. In the probe of the organization tied to A, police arrested 50 members between August 2021 and October 2022 and placed 20 of them in custody. A and B, who were overseas, were placed on Interpol red notices.

Securing custody of the two men involved Breaking Chains, an international cooperation operation led by the Korean National Police Agency. A was arrested in China in January this year and forcibly repatriated in May. B, who had been running a company in China and presenting himself as a businessman, entered South Korea voluntarily on Sept. 14 while under pursuit and was arrested by police. He denied the charges, but police established the case based on accomplice statements and other evidence and referred him to prosecutors in custody on Sept. 23.

Police said the significance of the investigation lies in going beyond the arrest of rank-and-file members to track down and secure the ringleader who directed the crimes and the person who supplied the tools used to commit them. Breaking Chains is an international cooperation operation in which participating countries cases and investigative leads to pursue the arrest and repatriation of suspects. The national police agency said that since the first meeting in November last year through June this year, 227 investigative leads from 116 cases had been shared, leading to 91 arrests.

"If someone asks you to install an app from an unclear source in the name of a loan consultation, or tells you to send guarantee fees or commissions upfront, you should suspect voice phishing," a police official said.