Korean members of a no-show and proxy purchase fraud ring arrested in Cambodia. Photo courtesy of the National Intelligence Service.

A "no-show scam" organization based in Cambodia, which engaged in restaurant reservation and proxy purchase fraud, has been busted through cooperation between the government and local police.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced on the 27th that it, in cooperation with Cambodian authorities, raided the stronghold of the no-show scam organization in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on the 13th of this month, arresting 17 Korean members.

According to the NIS, the criminal organization busted in Cambodia had defrauded approximately 3.5 billion won from over 15,000 small and medium-sized business owners in South Korea since May of this year.

While other foreigners were present at the scene of the crackdown, only those whose identities were confirmed as Korean nationals were arrested first. Whether the arrested members will be repatriated to South Korea has not yet been confirmed.

The no-show scam is a crime where perpetrators impersonate government or public institutions and request group dinners or large service contracts from small business owners. Using these as a lure, they demand the proxy purchase of high-value items through other fictitious companies to steal money.

When their methods became known through media or investigative agency announcements, they continued their criminal activities by changing the impersonated institutions to military units or other organizations.

This arrest marks the first success in apprehending a local fraud ring since the launch of the "Cambodia-Korea Joint Task Force for the Safety of Korean Nationals," or "Korea Task Force," on the 10th of this month, which was agreed upon during the Korea-Cambodia summit held on November 27th of last month.

Previously, in July of this year, the NIS detected signs of a no-show scam organization, composed of Korean nationals, actively operating in the vicinity of a disused casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and began tracking them.

Subsequently, they obtained tracking clues such as the organization's location in Cambodia, the identities of Korean members, and digital records, and provided support to the "Joint Investigation Team for Voice Phishing," proceeding with joint tracking.

The Joint Investigation Team proceeded with Interpol wanted notices for the criminal organization members and shared relevant information in real-time with the Cambodian side through the Korea Task Force, according to the NIS.

The NIS stated, "This achievement was made possible through the cooperation and organic collaboration among relevant agencies to counter transnational crime," and added, "The Korea Task Force played a significant role as a practical crime response cooperation channel, transmitting investigative information to the Cambodian police and actively facilitating the crackdown in the process of identifying and apprehending Korean members."

Yonhap News