Used Goods Trading and Games... 'Internet Fraud' Also Subject to Account Payment Suspension 추진

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A plan to include accounts used in 'internet fraud' in the list of accounts subject to payment suspension is expected to be promoted. Unlike phishing scams, internet fraud is not currently included in the accounts subject to payment suspension under existing laws, leading to many criticisms that swift victim protection is not being achieved.

According to the police on the 14th, the Sogang University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation recently submitted the final report of the "Study on Payment Suspension Measures for Accounts Used in Internet Fraud," conducted at the request of the National Police Agency. The current Act on the Refund of Telecommunications Fraud Damage allows victims to apply for relief measures such as payment suspension only for phishing crimes like voice phishing and smishing. However, the report emphasized that "Internet fraud is precisely the case where immediate payment suspension is an essential measure to minimize damage."

Since transactions are conducted in real-time through internet banking, faster payment suspension is necessary for victim relief. In fact, among the 85,953 cybercrime cases reported in the first half of last year, internet fraud accounted for the largest portion at 75.9% (65,238 cases).

The report also introduced overseas cases responding to internet fraud crimes. The United States has established the Recovery Asset Team (RAT) under the federal government to recover criminal proceeds through account freezes and other measures, and the United Kingdom has also improved its system to allow relevant agencies to request payment suspension on accounts used for fraud. Although the detailed methods differ, payment suspension is actually being utilized as a response measure to internet fraud.

The report proposed amending the Act on the Refund of Telecommunications Fraud Damage to enable payment suspension for internet fraud as well. However, it also called for ensuring the opponent's right to raise objections and including provisions for strict punishment equivalent to false accusation for fraudulent requests. The police plan to initiate institutional improvements based on the research results. A police official stated, "We plan to discuss this with related agencies such as the Financial Services Commission."