Why Korean Scammers Wear the Kindest Face

Working with fraud cases over many years, I have repeatedly confirmed that the image of a "scammer" that people generally carry, and the scammer that actually appears in case files, look very different. For ratings, films and dramas draw scammers with cunning expressions and awkward speech. But the scammers in real cases typically sit at the opposite end. This article organizes, as general legal information, what personal exterior scammers borrow when they approach you, and why ordinary people collapse under that exterior. A single sentence I once heard from a suspect during my prosecutorial trainee days changed the way I have seen fraud cases ever since.

People carry two kinds of desire at once. One is the somewhat misdirected kind — winning big, building a 10-billion-won fortune. The other is the ordinary and kind kind — wanting to give one's parents a good life, wanting to see one's children through their tuition, simply wanting one's family to be happy, wanting to help someone in trouble.

It is commonly thought that scammers target the desire for sudden wealth, but the pattern seen through real case files is the opposite. Scammers typically feed on kind desires. The reason is simple. Kind desires do not lead a person to doubt themselves. The awareness, "I am acting with good intent," lowers the guard against information from outside.

While serving as a prosecutorial trainee at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, I handled a multi-level / franchise fraud case. The victim was a self-employed person in her early fifties, who had invested into that franchise the funds she had saved to see her child's university tuition through to the end. When I asked the suspect "why did you commit the fraud?", the answer that came back was shocking. The answer was that, seeing the victim held a desire to "be responsible for her child's tuition to the end," he judged her to be an easy target.

I felt two things at that moment. One was the shock at how far a sense of good and evil can be ruined. The other was the realization that the essence of fraud lies in the resolve to "use any available human desire, whatever it is."

Reading across many years of case files, the exterior a scammer typically borrows shares a few common signals.

• From the very first contact, an extraordinarily devoted stance toward you
• Listens well to your stories, and says exactly the words you wanted to hear
• Understands your ordinary desires (family, children, close human relationships) remarkably well
• Leaves an impression that feels somehow "too perfect" (almost no clumsiness)
• Maintains a consistent tone of taking your side in conflict or ambiguity

Any single signal alone may simply mean a good person. But when all five appear together, it is safer to inspect the perfection of the exterior itself.

The comparison standard I often offer in consultations is this. A true relationship carries a slightly clumsy side as well. Parents are the most devoted to you, yet even parents do not show only perfect sides. Truth is not smooth — it is slightly uneven. By contrast, a scammer's exterior is almost as smooth as a fairy tale or a novel. From the start, they deliberately build the impression of "can someone really fit me this well?"

People often blame themselves, saying "I got scammed because I was stupid." But sorting through case files, that diagnosis is typically wrong. People are very sensitive about their own money. A change in the price of a packet of ramen, a 10,000-won markup at a tourist trap — emotions move instantly. When such a sensitive person lets go of a large sum, that decision is not made from a "money" perspective. The decision is made from a "relationship" perspective.

When, for the victim, the scammer has been set up as "the only person in the world who understands me," the decision is no longer a decision about money — it is a decision about a relationship. This is the real reason ordinary people fall for ordinary fraud.

The hundred-billion or trillion-won fraud cases reported in the news are statistically only a tiny fraction of all fraud cases. Most fraud that actually occurs falls into the three types above — types that rarely make the newspapers.

The phrasing "preventing fraud in advance" is dangerous. Fraud itself enters by targeting you precisely. Still, organizing the following items in ordinary times typically helps you not be swayed by emotion at the moment of decision.

1. A rule that, for large-amount decisions, you grant yourself at least 24 hours of "decision-deferral time"
2. A procedure of "talking through" the decision with family or one or two people you ordinarily trust
3. A rule of stopping immediately when someone requests you to move funds to an account or under a name other than your own
4. A habit of treating the feeling "if only this person is with me, that is enough" itself as something to inspect
5. A habit of preserving messages, contracts, and the "exterior" of promises in digital form

These checks do not mean suspecting fraud — they are devices that keep your decision in the form of "a decision about money."

If you have already suffered fraud damage, the flow of organizing the facts typically goes as follows.

• Preserving the time-line of fund movements (accounts, messengers, call logs)
• Preserving messages reflecting expressions and promises used by the scammer
• Preserving originals of contracts, written undertakings, and electronic documents
• Organizing the possibility of co-conspirators
• Examining a civil provisional attachment in parallel with criminal complaint

Preservation of materials is most often missed in the emotional state immediately after damage. At Chat with us now you can first confirm the items to preserve.

Q. I lent money to a close friend who is not paying me back. Is it fraud? A. Simply not paying back, by itself, typically falls under civil non-performance of debt. For fraud to be made out, the lack of intent or ability to repay at the time of borrowing must be objectively recognized. The financial situation, intended use, and statements at the time of borrowing become key materials.

Q. How is money received within a romantic relationship typically contested? A. There are various flows depending on the facts. Cases that look like simple gifts, cases that look like loans, and cases that look like fraud are all possible. Outcomes change with messages, transfer memos, and the form of promises at the time.

Q. What should I do first right after being scammed? A. Preservation of materials typically comes first. Preserve messages, calls, and transfer history as they are, and pursue new contact with the scammer only under counsel's assistance — that is the flow we typically recommend.

If you want to first organize which type your case most closely resembles, you can apply through Chat with us now.

This article was prepared based on the YouTube commentary above by attorney Roh Jongeon of Jonjae Law Firm. It is general legal information.

Reviewing attorney: Roh Jongeon · Last reviewed: 2026-05-30

Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide general legal information, and is not legal advice on the specific facts of an individual case. Even similar matters can yield different outcomes depending on the facts and evidence, so anyone with an actual dispute or who needs a consultation should obtain individual advice from a specialist attorney.