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What is a romance scam?



It is a compound word of 'romance' and 'scam', which means credit fraud.



They mainly have servers overseas, so account tracking is difficult, and even if they are arrested, they are subject to 'fraud' and the sentencing standards are lower than those of voice phishing, which is subject to the 'Electronic Financial Transaction Act'.


A foreigner in his 30s who was handed over to trial on charges of extorting more than 100 million won by acting as a link between members of a 'romance scam' crime syndicate, so-called 'love scam', has been sentenced to prison.



On the 7th, Detective 17 of the Seoul Central District Court (Director Nam Shin-hyang) sentenced a 39-year-old foreigner A (39), who was handed over to the trial on fraud charges, to 1 year and 6 months in prison. Foreigner B (29), who was brought to trial on the same charges, was acquitted.



Mr. A and Mr. B were the 'intermediate management measures' that brokered the communication between the overseas members of the romance scam organization and the domestic withdrawal management plan.



As a result of the investigation, in July 2020, they used KakaoTalk to deceive the victim that they were an orthopedic surgeon at a private hospital in the UK, and stole 108 million won in total 10 times. Their organization mobilized domestic and foreign members to steal about 180 million won.



Person A played a role in notifying the withdrawal manager when money came in, and it was confirmed that Mr. B received a partial remittance of the amount of damage and withdrew it.



However, the court found guilty of fraudulent charges of 58 million won among Mr. A's charges. For the remaining amount, he did not admit guilt, saying, "There is insufficient evidence that he continued to act as an intermediary."



In addition, while acquitting Mr. B, he said, "I do not see any circumstances in which the (criminal) proceeds were delivered to the gang members or the withdrawal was ordered." "There is no direct connection with the crime." explained.



Meanwhile, according to the 'International Crime Risk Alert' released by the National Intelligence Service last year, the number of romance scams by November 2021 tripled to 28 from the previous year, and the amount of damage increased more than fivefold to 2.07 billion won. .



This is a 'news pick'.