Response to Voice Phishing Crimes... ATM Cash Deposit Limit to Be Reduced

Transfer Blocked for 3 Days After Open Banking Registration
Reducing Available Lines for Activation from 150 to 3 to Prevent Crimes Using Dapo Phones
Authentication Mark Added to Texts from Financial Companies
Simple Accomplices Also Subject to Imprisonment and Fines

Bang Moon-gyu, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, is announcing the achievements and measures against voice phishing at the briefing room of the Government Seoul Office Building on the 29th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] To prevent damage from telephone financial fraud (voice phishing), limits on cash deposit amounts at ATMs and open banking fund transfer limits will be reduced, and identity verification procedures for non-face-to-face account openings will become more stringent. To prevent crimes using prepaid phones, the number of lines that can be activated will be reduced from the current 150 lines to 3 lines, and normal messages from financial institutions and public agencies will be separately marked with notification indicators. Voice phishing crimes will be punished with imprisonment without exception, and even simple assistance in withdrawals or transfers, regardless of awareness of the crime, will be subject to imprisonment or fines.

On the 29th, the government held a "Voice Phishing Response Pan-Government Task Force (TF)" meeting chaired by the Minister for Government Policy Coordination at the Seoul Government Complex, where they prepared communication and financial sector measures containing these details. According to the measures, to respond to face-to-face extortion-type voice phishing crimes, which have been difficult to remedy, the Telecommunications Fraud Damage Relief Act will be applied going forward, allowing investigative agencies to request financial companies to suspend payments on the relevant accounts immediately upon arresting the perpetrators on site. The daily limit for depositing cash into an account by entering the account number without using a card or passbook at an ATM will be limited to 500,000 KRW, and the receiving limit will be capped at 3,000,000 KRW. When opening an account non-face-to-face and subscribing to open banking, fund transfers via open banking will be blocked for 3 days, and the daily usage limit for purposes other than the customer's fund transfers will be reduced from 10,000,000 KRW to 3,000,000 KRW during this period.

All financial companies will be required to use an identity verification system when opening accounts non-face-to-face. To prevent identity theft, a facial recognition system that compares the ID photo with the actual applicant’s face will be developed and introduced from the second half of next year. A system allowing victims to collectively or selectively suspend all accounts under their name at all financial institutions will also be established. As a measure against prepaid phones, the current limit of up to 150 lines (3 lines per telecom company) that can be activated will be reduced to only 3 lines across all telecom companies starting next month. Corporations will have line limits based on the number of employees. Telecom companies will restrict new phone activations for individuals with a history of illegal activities for a certain period. From next month, text messages sent by financial and public institutions will include authentication marks and reassuring phrases to differentiate them from voice phishing messages. To prevent impersonation crimes via international calls, telecom companies and device manufacturers will strengthen international call guidance obligations, and telecom use will be suspended for phone numbers used in crimes.

To secure defense measures for victims, a system will be established allowing victims to collectively or selectively suspend all accounts under their name at all financial institutions when voice phishing damage occurs or is suspected. The Telecommunications Fraud Damage Relief Act will be amended to impose imprisonment of more than one year or fines amounting to 3 to 5 times the proceeds of crime for voice phishing, and simple accomplices will face imprisonment of up to 5 years or fines up to 50 million KRW. Previously, the National Police Agency and the government joint investigation team conducted large-scale investigations targeting overseas masterminds and domestic criminal organizations involved in voice phishing, arresting 16,000 people this year and blocking about 115,000 criminal tools such as prepaid phones and malicious messages. The number of crimes decreased from 22,816 to 16,092 cases, and the damage amount dropped from 562.1 billion KRW to 408.8 billion KRW.

Bang Moon-kyu, Minister for Government Policy Coordination, said, "The government will continue to carry out strong pan-ministerial responses with the determination to wage war against voice phishing crimes that destroy the safe daily lives of the people," and urged related ministries, "Quickly launch the ‘Voice Phishing Integrated Reporting and Response Center’ that can handle everything from reporting to investigation in a one-stop manner, promptly pursue tasks requiring legal and institutional improvements, and do your best to rapidly develop facial recognition and tracking systems."