"Sender Tracking Within Two Days, Stricter Punishments"... Eradicating Illegal Spam Posing as Banks

Announcement of Measures to Prevent Distribution of Illegal Spam Impersonating Banks

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The government plans to track the original sender of recently surging 'bank impersonation' illegal spam within a maximum of 2 days and strengthen the punishment level to imprisonment of up to 3 years. It will also limit the number of wired and internet lines to prevent illegal spam senders from securing a large number of phone lines.

On the 28th, the Korea Communications Commission and related ministries and agencies announced the 'Bank Impersonation Illegal Spam Distribution Prevention Measures.' Bank impersonation illegal spam refers to financial crimes such as phone scams and text scams disguised as loan products handled by commercial banks. Especially as COVID-19 prolongs, illegal spam impersonating financial institutions with evolved methods is increasing, causing financial damage to the public. Bank impersonation illegal spam surged 81%, from 160,000 cases in the first quarter to 290,000 cases in the second quarter.

Accordingly, the government decided to strengthen the punishment for illegal spam senders from the current imprisonment of up to 1 year and a fine of 10 million KRW to imprisonment of up to 3 years and a fine of 30 million KRW. This measure aims to prevent continuous violations as the current punishment level is significantly lower compared to business profits.

Additionally, restrictions on wired and internet phone subscriptions will be tightened to prevent illegal spam senders from securing a large number of phone lines. The number of activated lines, including virtual numbers, will be limited to 5 per individual and to the number of employees for corporations. The government stated that if confirmed as malicious illegal spam, not only the corresponding phone number but also all phone numbers secured by the illegal spam sender will be suspended.

Furthermore, the transmission standard for internet-sent text messages will include the 'identification code' of the original sending text service provider, enabling the tracking of the first illegal spam sender within 2 days when users report illegal spam or the government recognizes it. As illegal spam flowing in via overseas routes is expected to increase, cooperation with related agencies will also be strengthened.

In addition, the government will apply filtering based on official phone numbers of financial companies and enable users to easily report on foreign phones such as iPhones. The government emphasized, "We will actively respond to prevent criminal damage caused by financial institution impersonation illegal spam messages that appear in the non-face-to-face era, such as the COVID-19 environment."