"I thought it was love but I bought it"...He's pretending to be a U.S. soldier and an international student.

You said you were a British sailor, so you approached social media..."Please pay customs clearance fees"
When the victim remitted KRW 160 million, the contact was lost
'Romance Scam' organization approached the victim by deceiving his identity.

[Anchor]
A group of people who approached on social media pretending to be U.S. soldiers or international students and extorted money and valuables, fraud under the guise of a love affair, and so-called "romance scam" have been caught.

It was investigated that 1.4 billion won was extorted from about 10 victims.

Reporter Chung Hyun-woo's report.

[Reporter]
A woman in her 40s has been talking to a foreign man who introduced herself as a British sailor on social media.

The man sent his luggage for a vacation in Korea, but he said he went to Japan wrong and asked me to pay for the customs clearance fee instead.

Later, when asked to pay for other customs fees, A borrowed 100 million won and remitted a total of 160 million won, but the man lost contact.

[Mr. A / 'Romance Scam' Victim: He said he would come to Korea for vacation, and he kept calling me 'my dearest' (my love).]

Those who took money from Mr. A were international organizations that specialized in romantic fraud, so-called "romance scams."

We approached 14 domestic victims by making friends online under the guise of various jobs such as U.S. soldiers and international students.

[Jang Bo-eun / Head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's International Investigation Division 1 : It is extremely rare to make an actual phone call or video call. They only talk in text, and they are committing crimes against the lonely psychological vulnerable.

Then, it was investigated that he extorted 1.4 billion won 68 times, asking for payment of various expenses such as shipping costs.

The police, which intensively investigated a series of damage reports, arrested 12 foreign members, including nine Russians in their 40s, who were in charge of the domestic affairs, and sent them to the prosecution.

Police say they mainly played a role in transferring money sent by victims from Korea to overseas, and they plan to ask for international cooperation and track down fraudulent groups abroad.

I'm Jeong Hyeonwoo from YTN.

Video editing; Choi Yeon-ho's screen provided; Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency