Yang Jeong-suk: "Wireless Voice Phishing Surges... 26-Fold Increase in 3 Years"

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The number of voice phishing cases using mobile phones has surged, raising urgent calls for countermeasures.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT to Yang Jeong-suk, an independent member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, wireless voice phishing cases increased more than 26 times from 240 cases in 2017 to 6,351 cases last year. This upward trend continued with 4,729 cases reported by the end of July this year.

While voice phishing lines have generally increased, SK Telecom and LG Uplus have maintained double-digit figures this year, showing a noticeable decrease, whereas KT has significantly increased, exceeding last year's numbers as of the end of July.

As of the end of July this year, the number of wired and wireless lines misused for voice phishing by service providers are as follows: SK Broadband wired 22 lines, SK Telecom wireless 58 lines, KT wired 954 lines, KT wireless 104 lines, LG Uplus wired 53 lines, and LG Uplus wireless 48 lines.

Assembly member Yang Jeong-suk stated, "Since the three major telecom companies’ revenues increase with higher communication traffic, they may neglect managing voice phishing lines," and urged, "Given the significant improvement in their business performance this year, they should take strong measures to manage voice phishing lines."

She also emphasized, "Since July this year, the terms of use of the three telecom companies have been revised to allow administrative agencies, investigative agencies, or the Korea Internet & Security Agency to suspend lines used for voice phishing to prevent such crimes, it is essential to thoroughly prepare to achieve practical effects and prevent harm to the public."