S. Korea, China bust phone scam ring targeting S. Korea

Chinese prosecutors have arrested 23 suspects over phone fraud on South Koreans, Seoul's prosecutors said Sunday, the first bust on a scam ring after the two neighboring countries agreed to thwart voice phishing scams that have caused huge financial damage in South Korea in recent years.

Voice phishing involves random phone calls to dupe victims to siphon their bank accounts. Callers, growingly traced to networks in China, masquerade as police or bank officials, or sometimes demand ransom claiming they are holding a family member hostage.

The damage from phone fraud has reached over 200 billion won (US$185 million) over the last three years, according to South Korean prosecution data. More than 1,500 suspects of the scams are believed to have fled to China during the past five years.

A Chinese ringleader and 22 other scammers allegedly swindled several billion won from South Koreans by impersonating officials of financial institutions and fooling them into depositing their money at certain bank accounts.

The Chinese prosecutors are also chasing other members of the busted phone scam ring that allegedly has about 100 members, according to Seoul's prosecutors.

The bust came three months after South Korean Prosecutor General Kim Joon-gyu and Meng Jianzu, China's public security minister, agreed to cooperate in rooting out voice phishing scams.

South Korean prosecutors said they can soon extradite 15 separate suspects from China over similar scams that caused some 150 billion won ($138 million) in damages from 20,000 victims. The prosecutors did not give any specific time frame.

(Yonhap News)