FSS: "Out of 620,000 leaked cards, 138 used fraudulently... Estimated damage of 10 million KRW"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on the 3rd that among the 617,000 cards whose information was recently leaked, fraudulent use was confirmed in 138 cards, accounting for 0.02%.

Among the card numbers provided by the National Police Agency, the FSS identified 617,000 valid cards after excluding duplicates, expired cards, and those with consumer protection measures completed.

The FSS explained, "As a result of inspection through the Fraud Detection System (FDS), some cards showed fraudulent use, but it was at a normal level, and protection measures have been completed, so the possibility of fraudulent use occurring now is low."

The police seized an external hard drive containing 1.5 terabytes (TB) of data during the investigation of a suspect arrested on charges of hacking commercial banks from the end of last year to early this year, detecting signs of card information leakage.

The financial authorities and police began a joint investigation last month through the 'Interagency Meeting for Personal Information Investigation Cooperation.' The police are conducting an investigation into the specific leakage routes and methods of the stolen card information.

The FSS explained that financial companies that received card numbers from the police immediately activated the FDS and are closely monitoring for consumer damage.

These include 14 financial companies: Kookmin Card, Shinhan Card, Woori Card, KEB Hana Card, BC Card, Samsung Card, Hyundai Card, Lotte Card, NongHyup Bank, Citibank, Jeonbuk Bank, Gwangju Bank, Suhyup Bank, and Jeju Bank.

When detecting abnormal signs related to card use, they call or send text messages to consumers and implement card payment approval blocking measures. Additionally, they individually notify consumers related to this incident and recommend card replacement and registration to block overseas transactions.

The FSS estimates the damage amount from this incident to be approximately 10.06 million KRW. If fraudulent use due to card number leakage is confirmed, the financial company will fully compensate according to the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act.

The FSS urged consumers to regularly change their online payment passwords and actively use the financial companies' fraud prevention services to prevent card fraud.

Card consumers can apply for overseas card usage suspension services and safe services utilizing entry and exit information provided by each card company.