'Always verify through official administrative phone lines'
The city of Goyang has urged local businesses and small merchants to exercise caution after scammers impersonated city hall employees and demanded the purchase and delivery of goods from companies in the area.
According to the city Thursday, the impersonators contacted businesses while posing as Goyang City Hall staff and requested the procurement and delivery of specific items. They sent forged official documents via mobile phone designed to look as though an actual government agency had issued them, leading businesses to believe the orders were legitimate city procurement requests.
The city confirmed that the contacts and documents had no connection to the municipal government and referred the case to police for investigation. No financial losses occurred, as the targeted businesses directly contacted the relevant city departments to verify the requests before proceeding.
The city said businesses should verify the authenticity of any official documents or procurement-related materials they receive, regardless of how legitimate they appear. It particularly urged recipients to confirm whether an order is genuine and identify the responsible department by calling the official administrative phone numbers listed on the city's website.
"Cases of impersonating civil servants to demand the purchase or delivery of goods are occurring, so we ask businesses to be especially vigilant," a city official said. "Goyang City does not request goods deliveries via personal mobile phones or payments into personal bank accounts, so if you receive a suspicious inquiry, please verify it through the official administrative phone lines."
pjh@heraldcorp.com
