"My Son Asked Me to Send Money"…Post Office Employee's Wit Prevented 360 Million Won Phone Scam

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A post office employee prevented a voice phishing (telephone financial fraud) loss of 360 million KRW through accurate judgment and prompt action.

According to the Seoul Regional Post Office of the Korea Post, on the 26th of last month, Mr. A, who visited the Sangye 10-dong Post Office in Nowon-gu, Seoul, nearly lost the entire jeonse deposit of 360 million KRW received from a tenant to telephone financial fraudsters, but fortunately was able to prevent it.

While Mr. A was making the deposit, he was continuously on the phone with L Credit Card Company, which aroused suspicion from post office employee Mr. B. Knowing that telephone financial fraud was a serious issue, Mr. B asked Mr. A about the call content, to which Mr. A replied, "I received a call from an unknown number saying my son lost his mobile phone and urgently needed money, so I gave them my credit card number and password, and 1 million KRW was charged while I was on the call."

Employee Mr. B sensed the scam impersonating the son and had Mr. A hang up the phone. He then quickly checked the post office account and confirmed that 50 million KRW had been transferred to a C Bank account under Mr. A's name. Mr. B guided Mr. A to apply for a withdrawal freeze on the C Bank account and proceeded with the freeze application.

Furthermore, during the freeze application process, Mr. B discovered that 1.9 million KRW had been transferred in three transactions from Mr. A's account to other people's bank accounts, and immediately stopped the withdrawals. The fraudsters had used Mr. A's personal information to open open banking accounts and siphon off money. Mr. B changed Mr. A's password and reported the fraud to the police, preventing further fund leakage.

Employee Mr. B said, "We regularly receive training to prevent telephone financial fraud at the post office, and anyone would have responded quickly to prevent damage in that situation," adding, "As a post office employee closest to the people, I will do my best to prevent such damage."