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Scammer who defrauded 2.4 billion won from victims given reduced sentence on appeal

Published: 03 Nov. 2025, 09:52

[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A woman in her 30s who joined a Philippines-based voice phishing ring and defrauded 107 victims out of 2.4 billion won ($1.7 million) had her sentence reduced on appeal.

The Chuncheon District Court overturned the original ruling of two years and six months in prison and sentenced her to two years and two months, the court said Monday.

The woman was found guilty of joining the voice phishing group known as the Minjun ring and taking part in scams under the alias “Baek Song-yi” from February to December 2020. Her role involved posing as a customer service agent and helping to defraud victims of 2.4 billion won.

She initially became involved in the group after facing financial difficulties when her restaurant and other businesses in Korea failed. She reconnected with a friend who was already part of the Minjun ring and asked for work, according to the court.

Investigators found that she posed as a bank employee and approached victims by claiming they were eligible for low-interest loans backed by government disaster relief funds.

The original trial at the Wonju branch of the Chuncheon District Court found that “she took part in the crimes by working as a phone agent who directly deceived victims in Korea,” and sentenced her to prison. The woman appealed, arguing the sentence was excessive.

The appellate court acknowledged that “while the nature of the crimes is very serious,” she had “provided investigators with information about the criminal organization during the investigation, contributed to the surrender or arrest of accomplices, reached settlements with eight of the 10 victims she had directly defrauded and paid compensation to the remaining two.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]