With modern technologies come greater frauds. From a conman running a $1 million (Rs. 7 crores) scam from inside a prison to a woman being duped while purchasing beers online, the internet is filled with stories of fraud. But, have you ever wondered what happens when someone tries to swindle the cops? They get caught obviously!
Inspector Yang Il-mo of the Seoul Seobu Police Station’s Major Crimes Unit received a suspicious telephone call on Friday morning. The cop was wary the moment the caller asked him to put all his life-saving in his refrigerator, reports News18.
The caller claimed to be from Korea Telecom (KT), a major telecommunications provider in South Korea. Inspector Yang was flustered as the caller informed him about his supposedly unpaid bills and how he may have been a victim of identity theft. The caller then went on to connect the cop to a “detective” from the nearby International Crimes Unit.
According to CNN, the alleged detective asked Yang how much money he had in his account. He then instructed him to empty his account and put the entire money in his refrigerator so that they could inspect it for irregularities. They even asked for his apartment’s entrance code.
Yang who had caught on to the foul play by now played along and went to the bank and pretended to withdraw the money. He told the caller that the money was inside the refrigerator as requested and provided him with an address.
Later in the day, a Chinese man visited the given address and was instantly arrested. The man has been charged with fraud and cops believe he might be part of a larger international racket of scammers. No further investigation, however, is likely to be conducted in the matter, CNN reported.
This is a classic case of voice phishing scam — whereby con artists dupe their victims into revealing personal information over the phone, which is then used to rob them. It is imperative these days that we be careful while sharing our details with anyone. Because prevention is always better than cure.