'Voice Phishing' 110,000 Cases in 4 Years, Damage Amount 1.7 Trillion KRW... Loan Fraud Type and 50s Most Affected

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Damage from telephone financial fraud (voice phishing) is increasing steadily. As voice phishing, a representative non-face-to-face crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, is inevitably expected to increase further, special caution is required.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Park Wan-joo, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 117,075 voice phishing crimes occurred from 2017 to August of this year. In just January to August this year, 21,014 cases occurred, causing damage worth 452.9 billion KRW.

When classifying voice phishing cases over the past four years by type, 'loan fraud type' accounted for the majority with 92,943 cases (79.4%). Loan fraud voice phishing is a scam where fees or advance interest are embezzled under the pretense of switching to low-interest loans, but no actual loan is made. The 'institution impersonation type,' which impersonates entities such as the prosecution, National Tax Service, and Financial Supervisory Service, accounted for 24,132 cases (20.6%). The estimated damage amounts are 1.1043 trillion KRW for loan fraud type and 639.6 billion KRW for institution impersonation type.

By age group, those in their 50s were the most affected with 32,823 victims (28.0%), followed by those in their 40s at 27.2%, and 30s at 17.4%. Voice phishing crimes were mostly carried out through account transfers (75.5%), but face-to-face extortion, where money is handed over in person, accounted for 15.0%.

By region, Seoul had the largest scale with 5,812 cases and 147.5 billion KRW in damages, followed by Gyeonggi (5,205 cases), Incheon (1,425 cases), and Busan (1,273 cases). Recently, in addition to voice phishing conducted by phone, various methods such as smishing and pharming through mobile and internet have been combined and exploited for crimes.

Representative Park said, "The number of voice phishing damage reports and the scale are increasing," and pointed out, "Due to the economic difficulties caused by COVID-19, the possibility of increased damage from loan fraud type voice phishing is high." He added, "To prevent and catch increasingly sophisticated voice phishing, it is necessary for the police, financial authorities, and related organizations to establish an information-sharing system that can prevent crimes by sharing cases and conducting research on new methods."