A group of scammers are being investigated on suspicion of defrauding hundreds of elderly people out of about 700 million won ($610,000) by pretending to recruit them as government-affiliated honorary reporters.

According to Seoul Gwanak Police Station, one man identified with his surname Seo and five others are accused of deceiving about 600 elderly “Joseonjok” -- Chinese people with Korean ethnicity. 

The group had been operating in Gangnam from September last year to this October, running business presentations targeting elderly Joseonjok as they thought they would have difficulty in getting stable jobs with fair payment.

Some of the suspects are also Joseonjok.

The group of swindlers recruited people telling them they would be working as “Parent Reporters” affiliated with the government, and would be earning at least 2 million won a month, receiving it directly from state funds. No such business existed.

To deceive the victims, the Seo and the others handed out uniforms marked “press” and taught filming and reporting methods. The men took money from them, saying it was for membership fees and operational expenses.

The suspects were caught after one of the victims, who became suspicious of the constant delay in payment, filed a complaint with the police, who enforced a search and seizure of their bank accounts and office.

Seo is currently in detention whilst the rest have been booked without detention. The case was sent to the prosecution on Tuesday.



By Choi Ji-won (jwchoikr@heraldcorp.com)