The police prevented a woman in her 20s from losing 8 million won ($7,030) in a voice phishing scam.

According to the Busan Nambu Police Station on Friday, the victim received a call on Wednesday at 3:20 p.m. from a fraudster saying that her account was involved in a crime so she should withdraw 8 million won cash and give it to an official from the Financial Supervisory Service until the case is confirmed.

The fraudster pretended to be a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and instructed the woman to not talk to anyone until she met with the FSS official and that if she told this to other people she could be punished.

The woman headed to Busan Station to take the KTX to Seoul after telling her parents she was going to visit her friend at the hospital. She could not be reached because she was on the phone with the scammers.

Her parents reported to the police after her brother told them that she left after talking with “the dubious prosecutor” on the phone.

The police tracked the location on her phone on the suspicion that she could be a voice phishing victim. After locating her at Dong Daegu Station the police contacted the Railroad Police Office to locate the victim’s whereabouts as her family kept trying to contact her through text and SNS.

The police and her parents finally convinced her that it was a scam and the police at Dong Daegu Station were dispatched to her location.

The number of voice phishing scams grew sharply in 2017. A total of 50,013 cases were reported last year, up 8.9 percent from 2016, according to the FSS.

By Chyung Eun-ju (ejchyung@heraldcorp.com)