Two men in their 20s have been sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding victims of 2.8 billion won ($1.9 million) through a romance scam, a Busan court said Monday.
The court convicted the two on charges of fraud, stating they traveled to Cambodia in January 2024 at the request of an acquaintance and joined a fraud ring. The men worked at the ring’s call center after receiving over two weeks of scam-specific training.
According to the court, the group used Telegram to create open chat rooms themed around golf and movies. They impersonated women to build personal relationships with victims and then persuaded them to invest in cryptocurrency or shopping mall businesses, promising high returns. The money was wired to fake bank accounts.
Eleven victims were deceived, with total damages amounting to 2.8 billion won.
“The defendant’s involvement may have been less than that of the supervisors, but their crimes were part of an organized scheme involving clearly divided roles. Given the systematic nature of the fraud, the defendants bear significant responsibility and a heavy sentence is unavoidable,” the judge said.
shinjh@heraldcorp.com
