Bank Teller Stops Woman from Sending 27M to Fake U.S. Soldier in Romance Scam

A woman in her 70s narrowly avoided losing 27 million won (approximately $19,400) to a romance scammer posing as a U.S. soldier, thanks to the alert actions of a bank employee and responding police, Seoul authorities said Sunday.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Mobile Patrol Division, the incident occurred on the morning of September 8 at a bank in Geumcheon District, southern Seoul. A teller grew suspicious when the woman attempted to wire a large sum of money overseas and contacted police.

Investigations revealed that the woman had been communicating via social media with a man claiming to be a soon-to-retire U.S. military officer. He told her he wanted to move to Korea to marry her and repeatedly asked for money to cover shipping and travel expenses.

Living alone, the woman believed the scammer’s story and went to the bank to send the funds. However, the teller noticed something was off and intervened. Police officers arrived shortly after and confirmed it was a case of a romance scam.

Initially, the woman resisted their efforts, insisting, “Why are you interfering when I want to send my money to my boyfriend?”

Officers spent nearly three hours explaining how such scams operate, showing her examples of similar cases. Eventually, they convinced her not to transfer the money.

“Thanks to strong cooperation with financial institutions and active patrol efforts, we were able to stop the fraud early,” a police official said. “Scammers often pose as foreigners to gain trust, then make financial demands under false pretenses.”

Romance scams typically involve prolonged online communication, during which scammers build emotional trust before requesting money for fake emergencies or expenses.

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