The Indian Embassy in Seoul has issued a warning for Indian citizens in Korea not to fall for fake calls asking them to transfer money electronically to a bank account.

The diplomatic mission told The Korea Herald that it has received complaints from the local Indian community that they received calls from strangers requesting the transfer of money to the Indian embassy, starting in early February. 

The caller identified the call receivers’ dates of birth, addresses both in Korea and India as well as visa statuses and, upon verification, told them that some information was incorrectly collected. They then asked the call receivers to transfer money to an online bank account in order to avoid paying a penalty to the Korean government.

Upon becoming aware of the issue, the embassy immediately alerted its citizens not to transfer money to the anonymous callers, as Indian embassies worldwide do not receive online payments. So far, more than 25 Indians here, mainly students, scholars and researchers, have been targeted and one individual has transferred money to the unidentified caller. 

“The embassy has been closely working with Korean agencies, including the Korean police, to apprehend the culprit and the police has extended full support in resolving this issue,” the diplomatic mission said. “Initial investigation reports that these culprits sourced details about Indians from other public databases either in Korea or India, not from our embassy, and all voices of the callers had South Asian accents.”

The embassy has increased its outreach to the Indian community, advising them not to fall for such scam calls and report the incidents immediately to the embassy. It has also issued periodical press releases advising caution.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)