SK Telecom SK Telink Reveals Top 10 Countries Sending International Spam
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] SK Telink disclosed on the 19th the top 10 countries with the highest number of spam calls based on the analysis of international spam numbers blocked by its international call service ‘00700’ throughout 2022.
According to ‘00700’, as of 2022, the country with the highest number of international spam calls was Tunisia (7% of total, country code 216). It was followed by France (6%, country code 33), Georgia (6%, country code 995), Iceland (6%, country code 354), and Monaco (5%, country code 377).
International spam refers to illegal activities that induce abnormal international communication and connections from overseas to Korea. Typically, such spam has mainly originated from South Pacific island countries with poor international communication infrastructure. However, last year, due to the worsening geopolitical instability in Europe caused by Russia’s invasion, neighboring countries around Europe, including Ukraine?the target of the war?Georgia, and Iran, where anti-government protests occurred, emerged as new sources of international spam calls.
For South Pacific island countries such as Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji, which were previously among the top spam-sending countries, the volume of new spam calls sharply decreased due to active blocking efforts by international relay operators and SK Telink designating these countries as special management countries to strengthen illegal spam monitoring and management. The South Pacific countries that appeared in the top 10 in 2021 were all excluded from the top 10 list in 2022.
SK Telink blocked 6.73 million international spam calls in 2022, a 2% increase compared to 6.56 million calls in the previous year. The number of callback damages caused by international spam calls decreased by more than 57% compared to the previous year.
Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, when the frequency of international calls surges due to greetings and check-ins, SK Telink designated countries with a high frequency of international spam as special monitoring countries, working around the clock to monitor and block spam calls. They also urged international call users to be especially cautious to avoid spam damage.
First, if you receive a missed call from unfamiliar numbers starting with ‘216’, ‘33’, ‘995’, ‘354’, or ‘377’, it is highly likely to be a ‘one-ring spam’ (a call that rings once and then disconnects). Before calling back, it is advisable to check the country code of the phone number through a search. If you accidentally call back, press the call end button immediately and confirm that the call has ended. Also, do not click on URLs in international outgoing messages if the source is unknown, and strengthen your smartphone’s security settings to prevent unknown apps from being installed without permission.
More proactive measures include using your smartphone’s spam blocking features to register spam numbers and phrases, or installing spam blocking and reporting apps developed and distributed by the government and related organizations, which can more effectively block illegal spam.
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