Phone shop worker stole millions via micro-payments while 'helping' customers

A mobile phone shop employee who took customers' handsets under the guise of helping with settings and used them to rack up millions of won in micro-payments has been sentenced to prison.

Judge Lee A-young of the Seoul Southern District Court's Criminal Division 11 sentenced the man, identified only as A, to eight months in prison on June 19 on charges of computer fraud.

A is accused of taking a customer's phone at a mobile phone wholesale shop in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, in September last year and using KakaoTalk's gifting feature to purchase Starbucks mobile gift vouchers, obtaining 1.29 million won ($835) in illicit financial gain.

The following month, he allegedly repeated the same scheme against another customer, obtaining 3.34 million won in additional illicit gain.

The investigation found that A would offer to help customers with phone settings or immigration registration, then manipulate their devices to purchase Starbucks e-gift cards through KakaoTalk's gifting service, screenshot the gift cards and send them to his own phone.

He also registered victims' phone numbers as payment methods on his own device and repeatedly made micro-payments without their knowledge.

In total, A carried out the scheme 37 times against the victims, obtaining 4.63 million won in illicit financial gain, the investigation found.

"The defendant has a history of being punished multiple times for the same type of crime and, despite receiving the leniency of two suspended sentences, committed the offense again while on probation," the court said, adding that a custodial sentence was unavoidable.

The court also cited the defendant's failure to make any restitution and his failure to obtain the victims' forgiveness as factors in the sentencing.