Russian man arrested in South Korea over phone scam network

A 20-year-old Russian man was detained in South Korea on suspicion of organizing the country's largest network of phone scammers.

Consensus

• A 20-year-old Russian man was detained in South Korea.
• He was suspected of organizing the largest phone scam network in South Korea.
• The network operated in Busan, South Korea.
• Nearly 100 accomplices were arrested alongside him.
• The accomplices were primarily Russian-speaking emigrants and students recruited through chat groups.
• The group stole approximately 1.5 billion won (about $1.1 million) from victims.
• The operation involved the use of SIM boxes for spam and fraudulent calls.
• SIM boxes were smuggled into South Korea disguised as hard drives or household appliances.
• South Korean SIM cards were obtained from local citizens who registered them under false pretenses.
• Police arrested around 84 South Korean citizens involved in issuing SIM cards.
• Used SIM cards were cut up and flushed into toilets.
• The large volume of cut SIM card fragments caused a sewer blockage in a multi-story building in Busan.

Points of divergence

• The same Russian man was previously detained by Paraguayan authorities for attempting fraud with fake documents, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing. — vm

Coverage (3 sources)

• Caught due to sewage: Russian detained in South Korea for fraud — РИАМО
• Russian detained in South Korea for organizing network of phone scammers — Вечерняя Москва
• 20-year-old Russian detained in South Korea — suspected of organizing largest phone scam network in the country... — Mash

Key entities

• South Korea
• Busan
• Mash
• Telegram channel