Secondhand marketplace scams on the rise as victims suffer financial loss, retaliatory harassment

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Secondhand marketplace scams on the rise as victims suffer financial loss, retaliatory harassment

Published: 09 Oct. 2024, 16:22 Updated: 09 Oct. 2024, 17:51

Lim's online free giveaway post with Choi's phone number. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A woman in her 30s tried to purchase running shoes worth 300,000 won ($220) on a secondhand marketplace, only to be scammed and harassed by the scammer as well.

On Sept. 27, the same day of her "purchase," the woman who asked to be called by a pseudonym, Choi Ji-woo, was notified that the account to which she was to transfer the money through internet banking was suspected of fraud.

Choi was alarmed, and data suggests she had good reason to be. Cases of secondhand transaction fraud have been increasing every year.

According to fraud information-sharing site TheCheat, online transaction fraud cases rose by 27.3 percent from 245,489 in 2020 to 312,657 in 2023. From January to October this year, the total amount of fraud reached 267.8 billion won, surpassing last year’s 260.7 billion won.

Choi asked the seller, Lim, what was going on. The seller replied that it was due to the account being registered as a business and asked her to use another banking app.

Suspicious, Choi asked Lim to write her name on a piece of paper and take a photo of it with the product, to which the seller complied without hesitation.

The photo Choi received was fake. Lim had doctored an image from the internet to fit Choi’s request.

When Choi warned that she would report Lim's account and contact information to TheCheat, Lim’s retaliation began with the scammer's ominous vow to terrorize her.

That same afternoon, Choi received calls from more than 40 people, who were individuals who had fallen victim to scams involving someone using the same phone number as Lim.

Another scam victim, 33-year-old Park, had sent 800,000 won to purchase a tent from Hwang — who was using Lim's number — on camping gear platform Chocam Mall, only to find out they had been conned. Park said they received a text from Hwang’s contact number stating, “My son was obsessed with video games and made a mistake.”

The text included Choi’s number as contact information.

Both Choi and Park have filed complaints to the Geumcheon and Yangsan police stations, respectively.

The perpetrator didn’t stop there. Lim posted fake free giveaway ads and comments expressing interest in purchasing on multiple secondhand trading websites, leaving Choi’s phone number behind. Lim also continued to threaten Choi, saying he would continuously send masseuses or cash-on-delivery orders to her home address.

“I had a hard time explaining everything to the people calling me all day long,” Choi said. “Honestly, I never want to get involved with this again.”

Retaliatory crimes by scammers often lead to victims refraining from reporting the fraud to investigative agencies. Even though victims suffer double the harm, there is no effective means of recourse. Many victims try to dig into the scammer’s identity themselves, forcing scammers to pivot to other burner phones or accounts. The victims who seek justice give up once phone or delivery harassment begins in retaliation.

“Phone and delivery harassment is common, and in some cases, phone numbers are sold on job recruitment websites,” a representative of a 5,200-member open chat room sharing fraud information said. “I advise victims to file a report quietly rather than provoking the scammers.”

“Unlike voice phishing, secondhand transaction scams are not classified as cyber financial fraud, complicating the process to freeze accounts,” said a police official. “Because victims have little chance of getting their money back, scammers are becoming more brazen.”

BY LEE SU-MIN [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]