‘A’ flew over to China and started working in a ‘call center’ established in a three room apartment. The people who worked there didn’t exchange names or personal information. They referred to each other by surnames, and called people on the lists they were provided with all day long. (Image : Pixabay)
SEOUL, Jan.25 (Korea Bizwire) – ‘A’, a woman in her 20s, confessed to living the life of a voice phishing caller.
After graduating from university, ‘A’ tried everything to land a job, but couldn’t get employed in the depressed economy. It was then that she was tempted to accept a voice phishing caller job. The job was said to pay 5 million won per month, for only six hours of work every day.
‘A’ flew over to China and started working in a ‘call center’ established in a three room apartment. The people who worked there didn’t exchange names or personal information. They referred to each other by surnames, and called people on the lists they were provided with all day long.
During the first week, ‘A’ had to memorize a script a page long. She also had to act as if she was a police officer.
People who received the calls were not nice either. Most of them just hung up, but many swore and even pretended to play along and not hang up.
After four months, ‘A’ was promoted. She received a raise, but the script she had to memorize increased to 20 pages. Her salary jumped from 3 million won to 4.5 million won.
The working hours were better than expected. ‘A’ worked from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon, as Korean banks are closed after it is 2 p.m. in China.
‘A’ confessed that she felt guilty when she was lying to people over the phone, thinking how they worked hard to make the kind of money she was asking for. But she convinced herself that she was ‘just making a call’.
Although ‘A’ wanted to go home, she was scared to start looking for a job again. Besides, her boss at the call center was holding on to her passport.
However, the organization was eventually disbanded by the police, and ‘A’ finally came home.
Even though ‘A’ came back, she will be taken to the police to be investigated. ‘A’ said she regretted her actions, but it was too late.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
