International Law

A Sad Story of Internet Fraud: Beware Steve Kim of Daekwang Corp.

A couple of days ago some Korea Law Blog reader found me with this common tale of woe:

This is a long shot but I found you through Google (korealawblog.com) and thought I’d take a shot.

To make a very long story short, I wired $3800usd to an individual who goes by the name Steve Kim. He identifies himself as Director of a company in Seoul, Korea called Daekwang Corp. Co. LTD. and gives an address of:

330, MOKDONG APT.
1415-1205, SHINJUNG-DONG,
YANGCHUN-GU, SEOUL, KOREA

I had been purchasing some products from him for several years (all around $1000usd) and he kept pushing for larger orders. In April of this year I made the larger order and never heard from him again. He does not respond to mail and I have not received any products. His wire information is:

BANK NAME : KOREA EXCHANGE BANK , MOKDONGNAMBRANCH
BANK ADDRESS : 158-071, 323-4, SHINJUNG-DONG, YANGCHUN-GU,
SEOUL, KOREA
ACCOUNT NO. : 168-JSD-100737-7
SWIFT CODE : KOEXKRSE
BENEFICIARY : DAEKWANG CORP. CO., LTD.

If you Google “Steve Kim Daekwang Corp” you will find more victims of this man.

I have written to the Korean Police and the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office in Seoul and received no response.

Can you please enlighten me (even if only briefly) if Korean Police or the government assists in such matters? I am woefully ignorant of Korean culture and if this is a matter of any interest to the government or local authorities there.

Sadly, I had to tell her that the Korean police and prosecutors are profoundly uninterested in fraud cases as a general rule, and in the woes of nonresidents as well. The victim needs to present him or her self to the investigators in person, plus the police generally have to be able to find the fraudster to interview him as well. So if you’re a nonresident foreigner who’s gotten cheated by a Korean, the odds are stacked against you.

One can hire an attorney to appear at the police station and prosecutors’ office to advance a fraud complaint without coming to Korea, but that requires hiring and paying the attorney, and a significant investment at that (because the police and prosecutors are generally vile in their treatment of fraud complainants, and inefficient to boot, which means a lot of unpleasant yet billable time for the attorney). But for most of the folks who got screwed out of amounts of several thousands of dollars, that would simply be throwing good money after bad.

It’s best, therefore, to avoid getting cheated in the first place.

Out of curiosity, I did Google “Steve Kim Daekwang Corp”. There’s enough there to warn anyone away from doing any sort of business with Steve Kim of Daekwang Corp. Co., Ltd. (actually, any company calling itself Daekwang Corp. Co., Ltd. probably would set off my Spidey sense, as Corp. Co., Ltd. is three ways of saying the same thing).

It probably bears repeating that scumbags like Steve Kim are not all that creative. In 2005 I wrote “How to Get Cheated Every Time: Ignore These Warnings” on the Marmot’s Hole. It’s recommended reading for anyone thinking of doing business with Steve Kim of Daekwang Corp. Co., Ltd. Forewarned is forearmed.

Actually, in the 2005 piece, I make a throwaway reference to “Kimsco World Incorporation CO., LTD.”, which has the same three-ways-incorporated branding that Steve Kim is using. Guys like him are really not creative!

Full post as published by Korea Law Blog on November 07, 2008 (boomark / email).