"Citizen Deok-hee, 8 Years after being known to the World, Receives a 50 Million Won in Reward for Reporting"

- ACRC paid the whistleblower of a voice phishing scam, who is the real-life protagonist of the movie Citizen Deok-hee, a reward of 50 million won for reporting.

- A total of 81 million won in rewards for corruption and public interest reports was paid in the first half of 2024… Rewards were awarded for reports such as those related to Citizen Deok-hee, college admissions fraud, and violations of the "Narcotics Control Act"

(27, August. 2024, ACRC)

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) announced that it would pay a reward of 50 million won to the whistleblower of a voice phishing case, who is the real-life protagonist of the movie Citizen Deok-hee. Additionally, a total of 81 million won in rewards will be distributed to whistleblowers who significantly contributed to the financial benefit of public institutions or the promotion of public interest through corruption and public interest reports in the first half of this year.

The ACRC annually receives recommendations from public institutions for reward recipients and, following a review by the Compensation Review Committee and a decision by the Plenary Committee, grants the rewards.

In May 2024, the ACRC received nominations from 728 public institutions for the first half of the year, and after thoroughly reviewing factors such as contribution to case resolution and public value, finalized the decision on whether to grant the rewards and the corresponding amounts.

※ Major Reward Payment Cases

In particular, among the recipients of the rewards given this time is Ms. A, whose report inspired the movie Citizen Deok-hee released in January this year.

In January 2016, Ms. A was scammed by a voice phishing gang member impersonating a bank employee, resulting in 27.3 million won being transferred across 11 transactions. After the incident, Ms. A personally gathered evidence and information on the gang member and reported it to the authorities.

As a result of Ms. A’s report, the mastermind of the voice phishing scheme was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in prison. The total amount of damages, 135 million won, affecting 72 victims was uncovered, and an additional 234 potential victims were prevented from falling victim to further crimes.

At that time, the National Police Agency proposed a reward of 1 million won to Ms. A due to budget constraints, but Ms. A refused it. Upon learning of this, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office recommended that the ACRC issue a reward.

The ACRC, after internal reviews by the Active Administration Committee and others, highly valued Ms. A’s efforts in resolving the case and contributing to the public interest. It was ultimately decided to grant a reward of 50 million won, approximately twice the amount of the scam damages.

Ms. A commented, “Having been scammed out of my entire savings of around 30 million won and working hard to have even the mastermind arrested, I had a tough time without receiving any compensation. I am grateful to the ACRC for restoring my honor and compensating me for my efforts through this reward.”

The Vice Chairperson of the ACRC and Chair of the Compensation Review Committee, Chung Seung Yun stated, "We commend the whistleblower for her crucial contribution to the apprehension of those committing voice phishing crimes that steal precious public assets. We will continue to do our best to actively protect and support whistleblowers who contribute to the public good."