Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Conducts 3-Year 'Mystery Shopping' Investigation; 113 Cases of Illegal Lending and Other Crimes Detected

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 14th that it has operated 'mystery shopping' investigators who pose as customers to support crackdowns on illegal activities for three years, detecting 113 cases involving illegal lenders and other violations.

'Mystery Shopping' investigators are specialized personnel who pose as customers to make calls to telephone numbers in illegal advertisements or visit relevant businesses, collect investigation materials, and manage databases.

Gyeonggi Province's Special Judicial Police Unit has been the first local government to recruit approximately 15 mystery shopping investigators since 2019, detecting a total of 113 cases of illegal conduct over three years: 28 cases in 2019, 36 in 2020, and 49 in 2021.

Specific cases show that mystery shopping investigators directly approached illegal lending businesses as customers using flyers and internet portal sites, contributing to the collection of on-site materials related to illegal activities such as unlicensed lending conduct, unlicensed lending advertisements, and receipt of interest exceeding the legal maximum rate.

In the case of illegal taxi operations using personal vehicles or rental cars, known as 'call jumping,' operations were often conducted covertly using social media or radios without offices and disguising themselves as proxy driving offices, presenting difficulties in on-site crackdowns.

Accordingly, mystery shopping investigators demonstrated effectiveness by posing as passengers to detect illegal activities at the scene.

The province plans to expand operations to 20 personnel by additionally recruiting 5 mystery shopping investigators and online monitors.
Online monitor personnel monitor relevant websites to secure investigation evidence regarding online fraud, illegal finance, real estate, multi-level marketing crimes (coin sales, stock tip rooms), and youth-harmful drug proxy purchases in response to recent frequent online crimes.

Separately, the province's Special Judicial Police Unit plans to deploy 40 dedicated personnel starting in February to collect illegal advertisements, which are important evidence in mystery shopping investigations.

They visit busy commercial areas and youth-concentrated areas throughout the province to collect illegal advertisements for unlicensed lending, youth-harmful media, and other violations.

The illegal advertisements collected over the past year totaled approximately 378,000 sheets, representing approximately a 28% increase compared to the previous year.

Kim Young-soo, Chief of Gyeonggi Province's Fair Special Judicial Police Unit, stated, "Given the recent deepening economic downturn due to COVID-19 and the diversification and sophistication of crime types, there are concerns about the spread of damage from unfair criminal acts." He added, "We will make efforts to minimize provincial residents' damage through development of various investigation techniques including mystery shopping investigations, strengthened monitoring of online crimes, and active collection of illegal advertisements."

Meanwhile, damage reports and tips regarding online illegal lending and youth proxy purchase activities can be made through the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit website (www.gg.go.kr/gg_special_cop) or KakaoTalk Plus Friend 'Gyeonggi Province Fair Special Judicial Police Unit,' or by calling the Gyeonggi Province Call Center (031-120).