hankyoreh

Kim Tae-mun, a 26-year-old college student, found himself swindled out of 600,000 won (US$633) last December when he tried to buy a camera online.

He ordered the digital camera on an Internet site and paid the money to the bank account listed on the site. However, the camera never arrived at his house. He called the site’s operator, who merely made flimsy excuses. Kim sought help from the police, but they told him it would take time. Kim decided to try to deal with the fraud on his own. He thought there might be more people that had been swindled by the same site or its operators, so he opened an online cafe aimed at gathering such stories. A total of ten people joined the cafe, and through their stories of fraud, the dots were connected and a 23-year-old student living in central Seoul was uncovered as the criminal. When confronted, he promised to pay for the damages he had inflicted.

Moon Kyeong-won, a 17-year-old high school student, runs an Internet cafe committed to solving cases of cyber fraud. Last January, Moon caught two teenagers for trying to pocket money sent by people who thought they were buying secondhand products from a Web site. Moon was able to find the two teenagers’ personal blogs along with their IDs and contacted almost all visitors who left their comments on the sites. Through these efforts, Moon was finally able to zero in on the swindlers’ contact information.

Netizens have rolled up their own sleeves to combat ever-worsening fraud on the Internet, where anonymity is a powerful weapon for swindlers. As of March 2, a total of 379 online cafes came up when the word "swindler" was searched at Internet portal Daum; all were intended to help people catch those who had defrauded them on the Internet. The Cheat (www.thecheat.co.kr), one of the largest of such sites, boasts links to 200 related cyber cafes featuring a diverse range of tips to help avoid or catch Internet swindlers.

"I was a victim of online fraud myself last year when I lost 400,000 won attempting to buy a mobile handset through an Internet site. After that, I found such a cafe and realized that it was not just myself who had been cheated. There were so many people experiencing similar cases," said Kim Hwa-rang, the operator of The Cheat. "I opened my own cafe believing that it would help people to share personal stories and reduce the occurrence of online fraud."

Netizens’ mounting efforts help not just their fellow Internet users but also the police. A cyber fraud investigator said that he received help from netizens in catching an Internet shopping mall operator engaging in online fraud. "I was able to glean clues from such sites," he said.

However, cyber fraud is still rampant, as many swindlers use pilfered mobile phone numbers and bank accounts under others’ names, police said. The Cheat’s operator Kim urged netizens to confirm the identities of Web site operators before making any online purchases, and to send money for any products through certified financial channels.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]