Seoul Man Allegedly Bumped Into Strangers, Claimed Phone Damage and Collected Cash From 38 Victims

A man in Seoul is accused of running one of the more unusual street scams in recent memory: bumping into people, claiming his phone had been damaged, and collecting repair money from them.

Songpa Police Station said it referred the suspect, identified only as “A”, to prosecutors on October 15 on fraud charges. Investigators say he took cash from 38 people in total. Reported repair demands ranged from 400,000 won to 1.5 million won per person.

Seoul Man Allegedly Bumped Into Strangers

The case began when a single victim grew suspicious and filed a criminal complaint. Police then went through the suspect’s bank transfer records and found 37 more victims. Officers said the trick was so hard to spot that most people paid without realising they had been deceived.

Police had sought an arrest warrant, but the suspect failed to show up at the court hearing and fled. He was later tracked down and arrested in South Chungcheong Province before the case went to prosecutors.

Reports noted that those who answered, “I’ll compensate you after checking the CCTV”, mostly avoided losing money. The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in court.