South Korean police arrest 15 members of phishing ring…collecting criminal proceeds under the guise of “purchasing luxury watches”

South Korean police have arrested 15 members of a voice phishing ring who are suspected of using funds gained through vishing (also known as voice phishing) to purchase luxury watches and then smuggle them overseas.
On the 30th, the Gwanak Police Station in Seoul announced that a Chinese voice phishing group had posed as an investigative agency and defrauded approximately 700 million won (approximately 79 million yen) into South Korea.
The company announced that it had arrested 15 cash collectors and managers on suspicion of fraud, and four of them were arrested. Two of them, including Mr. A, who recruited and managed the cash collectors, were charged with fraud of 200,000 won (about 20,000 yen) a day.
He is accused of recruiting part-time workers to buy luxury watches on behalf of the applicants, on the condition that they pay him a fee of ¥2,000, and then using the applicants' accounts to steal the money he had gained from phishing scams.
The part-time workers who received the money from voice phishing bought expensive luxury watches and handed them over to the manager, Mr. A. Mr. A gave the watches to the person in charge of remittances,
It was determined that B, a Chinese national, would then either hand the watches over to a Chinese voice phishing organization or resell them for cash, using them as a way to launder the money he had gained from voice phishing.
In January of this year, the Korean police received information from a man in his 30s who was working part-time as a proxy buyer for luxury watches, who had learned that he had been involved in voice phishing crimes.
The police then began an investigation into the case, arresting 15 people one by one through analysis of mobile phone messages, tracking surveillance cameras, and investigating communication records.
During the course of the investigation, the police recovered about 50 million won (about 5.6 million yen) obtained through voice phishing at the scene and returned it to the victim, thus reducing the damage.
He also tried to provide relief.