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Taxi-driving couple helps cops catch voice phishing criminal

Published: 15 Apr. 2025, 12:51

A taxi driver couple in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, who helped police catch a voice phishing money collector receive a letter of appreciation and a reward from the Seoul Gangdong Police Precinct. [SEOUL GANGDONG POLICE PRECINCT]

A taxi-driving couple in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, helped police catch a voice phishing money collector who was attempting to steal 380 million won ($266,630).

The Seoul Gangdong Police Precinct announced on Tuesday that it had awarded a letter of appreciation and a reward to the couple for their role in the arrest.

The couple, who both work as taxi drivers in Hwaseong, found themselves involved in the case on March 19, when they happened to pick up the same suspicious passenger separately.

The wife picked up a man in his 60s around 2 p.m. on March 19. While driving, she received a call from her husband.

The husband told his wife that he had just dropped off a suspicious passenger who had taken his taxi for a very short trip. He added that he saw the same passenger get into her taxi just five minutes after getting out of his.

The wife asked her husband for a description of the passenger and confirmed that it matched the man in her taxi. The couple stayed on the phone, continuing their conversation.

Taxis are parked in downtown Seoul on Sept. 28. 2022. [YONHAP]

As they drove, the passenger changed his destination from a city in Gyeonggi to Gangdong District in Seoul and repeatedly asked about the estimated arrival time while appearing nervous. The wife of the taxi driver couple became more suspicious and asked her husband to call 112, Korea’s emergency police line.

The husband stayed on the phone with his wife and shared real-time updates with the police, including the taxi’s location and the new destination. Acting on the report, police arrested the passenger on a street in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul.

Police later discovered that the passenger was on his way to deliver 380 million won worth of cashier’s checks he had received from a voice phishing victim. The scammers had impersonated government officials in a scheme involving fake card deliveries.

The passenger in his 60s was arrested on charges of violating the Act on the Prevention of Loss Caused by Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud and Refund for Loss. Police recovered the cashier’s checks and returned them to the victim.

“This was a very rare case where a couple worked together to catch a voice phishing criminal and prevent high-value damage,” said Kim Byung-joo, chief of the Gangdong Police Precinct. “We sincerely thank them for their courage and for taking the risk to call 112.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]