63% of cybercrimes in Korea committed by teens, 20-somethings

More than 60 percent of South Korea’s major cybercrimes -- illegal gambling, wire fraud, Internet scams, personal information fraud, and online pornography -- are being committed by teens and those in their 20s, a report released by the Korean National Police Agency showed Friday.

The KNPA discovered a total of 26,808 cyber criminals since March, and arrested 178. The police confiscated 7.03 billion won ($6 million) worth of illegal profit from them and returned 2.4 billion won to a total of 1,618 fraud victims.

The KNPA said young Koreans are more prone to committing cybercrimes as they are more used to smart gadgets and the Internet than the older generation.

Among the caught individuals, 62.6 percent of them were either teens or in their 20s. Among the teens, 90.5 percent were caught for Internet scams. Meanwhile, 23 percent were in their 30s, while only 11.9 percent were in their 40s and 50s.

The agency is currently conducting a special crackdown on online gambling until Feb. 9.

Among the caught, 53 percent of them have committed Internet scams, while 22 percent were caught for wire fraud charges.

A total of 3,741 individuals, accounting for 14 percent, were caught for online illegal gambling, 9 percent for posting pornography online, and 2 percent for personal information fraud charges.

Also, 87 percent of them were male and 65 percent had no criminal records.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)