'Spam Text Bombs' Still Rampant

Announcement of Spam Distribution Status in the Second Half of 2022

‘Spam text bombings’ are still rampant, according to recent findings. The Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Internet & Security Agency announced the ‘2022 Second Half Spam Distribution Status’ on the 31st. The report investigated spam reports and detections for voice calls, texts, and emails, as well as user reception volumes and mobile carrier blocking rates.

The investigation revealed that the number of spam text reports and detections totaled 7,988,000, showing a mere 0.1% (7,000 cases) decrease compared to the first half of the year. By category, gambling accounted for the largest share at 40.4%, followed by finance (27.7%), illegal loans (15%), and adult advertisements (7.1%). Among all spam texts, 95.8% were sent via mass text messaging services.

On the other hand, the number of spam reports and detections for mobile phones and emails significantly decreased. Combining voice and text, mobile phone spam cases dropped to 12.12 million from 17.41 million in the first half, a 30.4% (5.29 million) reduction. Email spam cases also fell from 28.18 million to 21.69 million, a 23% decrease.

The spam reception volume was surveyed among 3,000 mobile phone and email users nationwide, aged 12 to 69. The Korea Communications Commission stated, “Through measures to prevent illegal spam impersonating banks, an overall decrease in spam has been observed,” adding, “However, the volume of text spam remains high, and we plan to strengthen responses centered on mass text messaging services this year.”