Seoul City Suspends 6,700 Illegal Loan Advertisement Phone Numbers Using 'Daepo Killer'

21,000 Illegal Loan Phone Numbers Blocked, 6,679 Services Suspended
System Automatically Calls Every 3 Seconds to Maintain Busy Status... Completely Blocking Calls to Citizens
Expanding to Daepo Killer Autonomous Districts in Second Half, Immediate Blocking Upon Report... Citizens Urged to Report Immediately

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 19th that since the launch of the so-called ‘Daepo Killer’?the nation’s first system developed in October 2017 to prevent citizens from being harmed by illegal loan advertisements?it has blocked over 21,000 illegal loan phone numbers, among which 6,679 numbers have been suspended.

The Daepo Killer developed by Seoul City is currently used by 66 local governments nationwide and all 254 police stations across the country. The ‘Daepo Killer’ works by inputting phone numbers listed on illegal loan flyers into the system, which then automatically calls each number every 3 seconds, keeping the line continuously busy to block communication between the operators and borrowers.

In particular, if the operators block the phone numbers calling from the Daepo Killer, the system automatically calls from another number, making it difficult for operators to identify borrowers, effectively preventing any connection between them. This essentially makes illegal operations nearly impossible.

Additionally, Seoul City is considering allowing autonomous districts to operate the Daepo Killer directly starting in the second half of the year. Furthermore, phone numbers listed on reported illegal loan flyers will be immediately reported to the city’s Civil Life Judicial Police Unit to assist in investigations.

Moreover, Seoul City pointed out that as the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the economic situation for self-employed individuals and others, the distribution of illegal loan flyers (business card type) at subway station entrances and streets has increased. They urged citizens to suspect illegal loan companies if the loan registration number is not printed on the upper left corner of the flyer. They emphasized reporting illegal loan advertisements through ‘National Sinmungo,’ ‘Eungdapsso,’ ‘Text Report (120),’ or local autonomous districts.

As of the end of last year, there were 2,471 registered loan companies in Seoul, showing a decreasing trend compared to 3,164 companies in 2016. By district, Gangnam-gu has the highest number of registered companies with 417, followed by Seocho-gu (315), Jung-gu (165), and Songpa-gu (144).

Seoul City and autonomous districts conduct regular or occasional on-site inspections of registered companies every year to provide guidance and supervision. If violations by loan companies are detected, administrative actions such as business suspension, fines, or registration cancellation are imposed. Over the past three years, 96 companies have been suspended, 43 had their registrations canceled, and a total of 786 million KRW in fines were imposed on 298 companies.

Lee Byung-wook, Seoul City’s Fair Economy Officer, stated, “Recently, illegal loan advertisements have been indiscriminately distributed on the streets, not only damaging the city’s aesthetics but also raising concerns about illegal private financing harming citizens facing economic difficulties. Seoul City will continue to operate the Daepo Killer and conduct regular and occasional inspections of loan companies to prevent consumer harm.”