<Anchor> The



crime of'romance scam', which is fraudulent to the opposite sex whom we met online, is getting worse.

Recently, even a new method of using cryptocurrency has appeared.

More than 1 out of 10 international crime victims have been confirmed to be romance scams.



This is the exclusive report by reporter Kim Hye-young.



<Reporter>



Lee Mo, in her 40s, became a romantic partner with a Hong Kong woman she met in an online chat last November.



A month later, the woman told me to send 100 million won worth of Ethereum to Hong Kong, claiming that Hong Kong has a high-yielding cryptocurrency investor app.



Mr. Lee even received a credit loan and transferred 100 million won worth of Ethereum to the cryptocurrency wallet provided by the woman, and after that, the woman was disconnected.




[Auntie/Cryptocurrency romance scam victim: I even thought of dying. I am in bankruptcy and I have no way to make a living right now, so I have applied for basic living recipients.] This



is the NIS data obtained by SBS.



The share of romance scams like Mr. Lee's case in all international crimes identified by the NIS increased from 8% in 2018 to 12% this year.



Of the 137 cases reported to the National Intelligence Service 111 call center during that period, 43 cases were actually confirmed to have financial damage, and the amount of damage exceeded 2.6 billion.



If you include the number of police reports, the actual damage is much more, the NIS is seeing.



It is also a problem that romance scams are not classified as telecommunication financial scams, unlike voice phishing.



There are many cases in which damages cannot be prevented even after being recognized as a crime because bank payment suspensions are not promptly suspended under related laws.



[Mr. Park/Romance Scam Victim: The police station told me to stop the payment from the bank. So I ran to the bank. (However, in the bank), "We can not help you because the voice is not phishing, police go." (She said.)



Experts romance scams mainly yirwojyeo tracking and arresting the damage prevention and relief as difficult as organized crime abroad He pointed out that more legislative efforts are needed.



(Video coverage: Kim Hyun-sang, video editing: Kim Jong-woo, CG: Jo Soo-in)