A week with the ‘pig butcher scammer’… He was never in a hurry

[Anyway, weekend]
I got caught up in spam text messages on purpose.
Are you being fooled here? but…

“[International call] It’s been a while. I’m going to Korea in September. Do you have time?”

“[International call] I will arrive in Seoul on the 31st. Please come pick me up at the airport.”

“[International call] It’s been 5 years since I got divorced, so I feel very lonely.”

I have received more than 10 text messages like this in the past few days. 00777… It was an unfamiliar and long phone number that started with , but the content was largely the same. From her poor Korean posing as a foreign woman, to the temptation of going to Korea alone and running out of time, to even asking her to add her messenger app ID. It is said that comedian Park Myung-soo recently received bait that is distributed indiscriminately and randomly. The strong smell of a fraudster's breath. I suddenly became curious. What kind of modification is this?

They fatten it up for a long time to eat it.
 

So, I chose one of those suspicious messages, ‘added friend’, and started talking to him first. “Do you know me?” Kaldap has arrived. “Isn’t this Kim Jik-ho?” Anyone can see that it's a ridiculous name they just made up. “No.” “I’m sorry. My assistant may have sent you the wrong phone number and added you by mistake. I hope I didn’t intrude.” It was evident that the online translator had been used. “Still, maybe it’s some kind of destiny, so I hope we can become friends.”

After contacting other IDs, this introduction seemed to be a common manual. Now it's your turn to be fooled. “How old are you?” he asked. “Haha, my name is Zhang Shiyi and I’m 32 years old. I’m from Hong Kong and I’m currently in Incheon.” He was busy waving his fingers and saying that he was in the women's clothing business and asked, "Can I call you oppa?" “Call it whatever you prefer.” “Are you married?” “It’s a secret.” “Would it affect our conversation if you had a wife?” “What do you want from me?” “Haha, we’re just friends now.”

Greetings arrived first thing every morning. He checked on my well-being at every meal. They sent me photos and videos saying they were at a beauty salon, department store, and restaurant. A beautiful Asian woman identical to her profile photo. I downloaded the photo and did an ‘image search’ on Google, and found that it was a Taiwanese advertising model. It was stolen. “Please show me your photo too.” He sent me a photo of a Japanese AV (adult video) male actor. A barrage of compliments: “You look like a gentleman and are mature.” I hoped he would quickly show his horse's legs, but for seven days he just kept trying to win favor. My patience has reached its limit. First, the game was decided. “Let’s meet tonight. I’ll go to Incheon.”
 

What if Elon Musk calls you for a chat?

To conclude, this type of approach is called the ‘pig slaughter fraud.’ It is a financial fraud that is like raising a pig, slowly feeding it food (affection) to build up a trusting relationship and then slaughtering it with a single knife. It is a ‘romance scam’ that deceives people with beauty and lies. As related damage became more serious, the National Police Agency began compiling separate statistics in February. 791 cases in 6 months, damage amounting to 50.2 billion won. The characteristic of this type of crime is that there is no haste. In order to cheat, the relationship continues for a month, and in severe cases, up to a year.

Back to the chat window. The provocation “I’m going to Incheon” must have worked, and he responded. “Do you really like me? If you just want to have fun, I don’t need it. What I need is true love.” A few disgusting words were exchanged, and he finally revealed his true colors. “My shopping mall earnings are not good these days... I only made $214 today. If you just invest, you can get 10% of my profits. I will only allow this to my lover. Emotions are no joke.” Eventually, they pointed me to a crude website address with the ‘Ali Express’ logo on it and asked me to sign up for various things. Goodbye.

No matter how kind or lonely you are, if strangers you have never met are mean to you, it is better for you to hit them off harshly. Even if it is Elon Musk, the richest American. In July of last year, a ‘following’ notification of someone appeared on the Instagram account of Korean woman A. The name and photo were Elon Musk. “I contact random fans first,” he said, sending a photo of his passport and Tesla CEO ID as proof. Of course, it was an impersonation account, but Mr. A thought, “I doubt it, but what if it is real?” We even had a surprising(?) video call using deepfake technology. As the exchange matured, Elon Musk of the world recommended Mr. A to invest in coins. I put in 70 million won. The coin transaction partner was fake.
 

Even the 101-year-old suffered... ‘Massive advertising’ is needed

It is the most inhumane sin in that it abuses faith in humans. Currently, about 4,300 people are registered in the domestic ‘Romance Scam Victims Association’ online cafe. Absurd stories are updated every day. There is also a secondary crime in which victims who joined this cafe were approached saying, “We will solve the fraud damage.”Attorney Seung-ho Lee of Daeryun Law Firm said, “The number of related consultations and case requests is increasing,” and added, “People who have little resistance to meeting people and giving their hearts through social media are easy targets.”“Because the photo and appearance are different, a real meeting never takes place. You must be aware of the typical tactic of trying to attract someone with sweet words but avoiding meeting them and then asking for financial transactions.”

There are different types of impersonation. He plays ‘plausible’ occupations such as US soldiers stationed in Korea and doctors dispatched overseas. Last June, a unique character called ‘a U.S. military doctor dispatched to the Israeli battlefield’ also appeared. After chatting with B, a woman living in Yangyang, Gangwon-do, on social media for about a month, she made a semi-threat, saying, “I have to go back to Korea from the Gaza Strip, but I can’t get on the plane because I don’t have $5,000 (about 6.6 million won),” and “If I don’t go now, I might die.” When Mr. B's friend found out about this, he took Mr. B in a taxi and took him to the police station, but Mr. B stubbornly refused to report it, saying, “I need to send the money quickly.” Fortunately, after persuasion from those around him, he was able to avoid any damage.

You can also blame the victim's naivety. Lee Woong-hyeok, a professor of police department at Konkuk University, said, “Of course, if we only base on basic rationality, we can avoid the damage of such fraud, but there are people who are disarmed by the ‘customized approach’ that penetrates the gap of social isolation.” He added, “The government should actively promote it so that when receiving a sensitive request, the victim can at least once ask the relevant agency, ‘Is this right?’” If you're confused, stop for a moment and call the police station. The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency reorganized this type of fraud into the ‘Top 10 Malicious Frauds’ and began preparing measures to eradicate it. The government will strengthen sanctions against companies that send illegal spam and carry out a special crackdown on phishing crimes until October.

Butchers’ secret tactics that take advantage of ‘loneliness’ are a global trend. In the UK, the oldest victim was 101 years old. Early this year, the British government launched a large-scale advertising campaign called ‘STOP!’ to promote this type of ‘fishing’ through TV, radio, and outdoor advertisements. Started ‘THINK FRAUD’. A slogan to stop for a moment and doubt. “No one is immune from fraud. Before stealing money or information, criminals emotionally manipulate their victims. But there is something we can do: stop, think, and check each time they approach.”

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