”120 chickens, 100 loaves of bread reserved”... ”No-show scams” purporting to be military officials rampant in South Korea

There have been a series of "no-show" scams in various parts of South Korea, including Jeju and Uljin in North Gyeongsang Province, in which people have placed large orders claiming to be military officials and then failed to show up.
In Uljin County, a person was reported to have ordered 120 chickens from two local chicken stores, 80 and 40 chickens respectively, but never showed up.
In response to this, Uljin County sent a message to restaurants through the Uljin County branch of the Korea Food Service Industry Federation to help prevent no-shows.
According to a county official, "We received reports of damage, so we sent out the message to raise awareness.
"To prevent this from happening, it would be necessary to receive a deposit when making a reservation or meet in person to confirm the identity of the person," he said.
Last month, a man claiming to be a Marine Corps officer ordered 100 loaves of bread at a bakery in Jeju.
In Gwangju City's Seo-gu district, a man who showed his civil servant ID and ordered sushi for about 1.7 million won did not show up on the day, and the man said, "I was not able to meet the customer I introduced."
The man said, "It will cost several hundred thousand won for delivery, but I will pay it when I receive the food," and this is a new type of scam.
It turns out that this was a fraudulent scheme. Last November, a person claiming to be a Marine Corps officer ordered food for a group at a restaurant in the Ganghwa area of Incheon and used a similar method to defraud the group.
The police plan to prosecute such "no-show scams" on charges of obstruction of business if they are committed intentionally. Obstruction of business is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or up to 15 years.
A fine of up to 10 million won (approximately 1.5 million yen) may be imposed.