Voice phishing collector in his 20s, found not guilty by Supreme Court

A man in his 20s who was accused of participating in a crime by acting as a voice phishing collector was found not guilty.

According to the legal community, the first division of the Supreme Court confirmed the original trial verdict that acquitted Mr. A, in his 20s, who was indicted on charges of aiding and abetting fraud last month.

Mr. A was indicted on charges of collecting 47 million won in cash from voice phishing victims in 2022 and delivering it to related gang members.

During the trial, Mr. A admitted to collecting cash, but denied intentional aiding and abetting of fraud.

He claimed, “I was hired by an auction company based on a resume posted on a job search site and just performed the assigned work,” and “I was completely unaware that a voice phishing crime was being committed.”

The first trial court sentenced Mr. A to one year in prison and two years probation.

The judgment was, “Considering that Mr. A was hired by the company without an interview process and that the compensation he received was significantly excessive compared to the actual work performed, the working conditions were sufficient to raise suspicion.”

However, the second trial court overturned the first trial ruling and declared Mr. A not guilty, saying that he could not be considered to have been aware of the possibility of a voice phishing crime.

The Supreme Court also dismissed the appeal, saying there was no error in the appellate court's decision.

Attorney Shim Ga-hyun of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, said, "Mr. A went to work in a neat suit according to the company's instructions and showed a sincere attitude by responding to customers' requests for IDs to be photographed. This was because he firmly believed that he was employed at a normal company, and the court appears to have taken this into consideration as well."

Reporter Jeong Eui-jin (jej88@ikbc.co.kr)

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20s voice phishing collector found 'not guilty' by Supreme Court (Shortcut)