“We’ll Give You a Military Construction Job” ... ‘Vietnam No-Show Scam Ring’ Targets Small Businesses - 파이낸셜뉴스
Police have arrested nine members of a Vietnam-based phishing ring that swindled 62 construction contractors out of 1.55 billion won by posing as military officials.
The Financial Crime Investigation Unit's Phishing Fraud Investigation Division referred all nine members of the ring, based in Ha Long City, Vietnam, to prosecutors in custody on charges including forming a criminal organization and fraud. The scammers operated between November last year and June this year, approaching domestic construction contractors with offers of military facility construction projects worth tens of millions of won.
Victims were told that military units must use designated materials and were asked to purchase supplies in advance from a particular company. The perpetrators promised to pay later, but after victims transferred the material costs, a company set up by an accomplice received the money and disappeared, police reported.
No-show scam methods
A no-show scam involves perpetrators luring victims into buying goods they don't actually need on the scammers' behalf from a specific company. These scams have expanded beyond traditional restaurant no-shows to include proxy wine purchases, goods targeting self-employed business owners, and equipment purchases disguised as administrative inspections by government agencies.
The most common method is "proxy purchasing," where scammers pose as legitimate business partners or use construction contracts as bait to demand purchases of materials. Another approach involves impersonating government agencies, sending forged notices announcing inspections and claiming reimbursement if victims buy specific equipment from designated companies.
Growing scam trend
From October last year through September this year, no-show scams accounted for 6,710, or 33%, of the 20,245 reports of new phishing types nationwide. In Seoul, 2,219 of 7,502 phishing reports—about 30%—were classified as no-show scams, with most victims being small-business owners in equipment and logistics sectors.
Since establishing the Phishing Fraud Investigation Division in October last year, police have apprehended 633 phishing suspects, taking 221 into custody. This includes 220 people across 25 overseas phishing organizations and 144 people across 19 domestic organizations involved in investment advice chat rooms and money laundering.
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