A group of swindlers, including a Canadian man, pretended to be a Korean-American army officer by using a fake social media account, scamming a victim out of millions, police said.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the 50-year-old Canadian man has been indicted on the charge of fraud.

The suspect is reported to have approached the Korean woman in her 40s via social media, using a fake Facebook account under the name “Bright,” in January. 

After building rapport with the woman, the suspect initially asked her to send him money needed for a lawsuit against the army. He had persuaded her, claiming that the army would not give him a retirement pension fund of $3 million.

Bright stole more money from the victim, saying that he would need $3 million for “transportation costs.” The victim reportedly believed the scam artist’s altered tactics and sent him some 387 million won ($345,000) on 12 occasions between January and March.

The con artist also approached the victim as Bright’s acquaintance, introducing himself as an official from the Foreign Ministry. Handing over a bag filled with $3 million in “black money,” the man convinced the woman to hand over more cash.

Police said the “black money” the man handed over to the victim was actually stacks of paper painted black. They plan to expand the scope of investigation to see if there are any other victims.

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)