투자사기와 그로 인한 피해는 통신기술의 발달과 정보화로 인해 어느 한 국가에 국한된 문제의 수준을 넘어선지 오래이다. 국제적으로 조직화된 범죄 집단까지 개입되는 탓에 투자사기는 전지구적인 차원에서 접근해야할 정도로 복잡다단해졌다. 연령, 수입, 학력, 지적 수준 등에 관계없이 누구나 그 피해자가 될 수 있다. 투자사기 범죄자들은 전문적인 지식, 세련된 매너, 친밀한 목소리, 끈질기고 설득력 있는 대화술, 위기에 대응하는 방식에 능통한 사람들인 경우가 많아서 범행의 대상으로 지목된 사람은 누구라도 넘어갈 수밖에 없는 상황이 연출되곤 한다. 이는 요즈음과 같이 경제적인 성공이 삶의 최고목표가 되어버린 문화적 풍토에서 작은 투자로 많은 돈을 벌려고 하는 사람들의 욕심만을 탓할 수 없는 이유이기도 하다. 본고에서는 이처럼 다양하고 복잡하게 전개되고 있는 국내외 투자사기 중에서도 특히 현재 사회적 파장을 일으키고 있는 나이지리아 선급금사기, 폰지사기, 펌프앤덤프사기, 해외투자사기, 프라임은행 등 주요 투자관련 사기에 대해 언론에 공개된 사례를 중심으로 각종 거래의 유형별 실태를 살펴보고자 하였다. 더 나아가 유형화된 문제들의 원인을 분석하고, 이를 토대로한 적절하고 실효성 있는 대책 마련에 도움이 될 수 있도록 노력하였다. 언론자료에 주로 근거한 탐색적 수준의 실증연구라는 한계가 있기는 하나, 관련 실증연구가 매우 부족한 상황에서 이는 향후 추가적인 심층적 연구를 위한 유용한 디딤돌이 될 수 있을 것이다.
In the era of information that IT technology has developed remarkably, crimes have been advanced and developed in various ways. The fraud that one makes effort to earn economic advantages by deceiving tends to be internationalized and globalized. Foreigners’ crime in Korea is increasing and the Koreans’ suffering from losses and damages by international fraud is also increasing. In particular, investment fraud that deprives someone of money and properties by deceiving is drawing attention from people. The government authority, financial institutions and other related organizations have perceived the seriousness of investment fraud in and out of Korea so that they started to take various kinds of measures to alleviate the risks and impacts in vain. The current measures turned out to be ineffective and invalid. The investment fraud has increased adroitly throughout the world so that it is very difficult for individuals, enterprises and even the governments to judge the truth of the transaction. As such, investment fraud in and out of Korea is increasing in various and complicated ways. The purpose of the study is to examine the actual conditions and types of transactions. A study on types and measures of investment fraud in and out of Korea can not only expand the capacity of criminology in terms of theory and methodology, but also prevent citizens from suffering from losses and damages by fraud. This study investigates the types, methods and measures of investment fraud in and out of Korea disclosed to the public such as Nigerian advance payment fraud, Ponzi scheme, pump-and-dump, collective action fraud, overseas investment fraud, Prime Bank fraud and other types of investment fraud. Everyone can be a victim of fraud regardless of age, income, educational background and intelligence. In particular, swindlers often have a special knowledge on specific topic, good manner, attractive voice, persistent and persuasive speech, and effective response to crisis, all of which is utilized to easily deceive the target of crime. Nowadays, in the cultural climate where economic success has become the highest goal of the life, the one who wants to earn money with small amount of investment cannot be blamed. As Nigerian AFF shows, so many people might want to earn money even in an irrational and abnormal way when the government cannot manage the economic crisis properly, leaders are corrupt and most of the people with economic desire cannot find out a proper target of investment. The moral consciousness not only in the political structure but also in the economic structure of a society plays a very important role. The investment fraud cannot be limited to one country due to the development of communication technology and information and the involvement of organized crime groups working at the global level. To take action against investment fraud at the international level, exact diagnosis and measures at various kinds of levels should be taken based on the contents of this study. In particular, the Government should take special measures and make best effort to let citizens invest safely and manage the good economic lives.