Warning on Voice Phishing and Smishing Scams Impersonating the Disease Control Cheong

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] "A confirmed COVID-19 patient visited the store, and you have been selected as a recipient of the quarantine support fund. To provide the support, please send photos of your ID card and credit card via social networking service (SNS)." On the 20th, the National Police Agency's Cyber Bureau introduced this recent case of telecommunication financial fraud (smishing and voice phishing), emphasizing that "the government and financial institutions never directly request personal or financial information under any circumstances."

According to the Cyber Bureau, the perpetrator called a self-employed person, impersonating an epidemiological investigator from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The victim, deceived by this, took photos of their ID card and credit card and sent them via the SNS. As a result, personal information such as bank account numbers was stolen, and hundreds of thousands of won were taken. Police investigations revealed that during the call, the perpetrator sent a fake Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency website URL via SNS to induce the installation of malicious software. When the victim clicked the link, a malicious app was installed on their mobile phone, and the perpetrator identified the bank account number through photos of bankbooks stored on the victim's phone.

A Cyber Bureau official stated, "Clicking on unverified website addresses in messages installs malicious apps that extract all information from the mobile phone," and reiterated, "The government and financial institutions never ask for personal or financial information such as ID cards or credit cards."