New Voice Phishing Scams on the Rise... Financial Supervisory Service's Advice on How to Respond

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced that voice phishing crime tactics are evolving daily and shared ways to respond to voice phishing.

According to the FSS on the 24th, the amount of damage from voice phishing last year was 145.1 billion KRW, down 23.1 billion KRW from 168.2 billion KRW in 2021, continuing a downward trend since 2019 (672 billion KRW). However, recently, the proportion of face-to-face extortion-type voice phishing has significantly increased, and crime methods have become more sophisticated with the advancement of malicious apps. The FSS also stated that new types of fraud are rampant, requiring efforts to prevent damage. Recently, there have been cases where scammers transfer small amounts from the victim’s account to multiple accounts to cause those accounts to be suspended, then demand a settlement fee on the condition of lifting the suspension.

The FSS explained that by actively utilizing financial companies’ ATM delayed withdrawal system and delayed transfer services to allow only pre-designated types of financial transactions, damage can be prevented.

The ATM delayed withdrawal system prevents cash withdrawals or transfers from an account for 30 minutes when 1 million KRW or more is deposited into the account via an automated machine. The delayed transfer service allows the transfer to the recipient’s account after a designated time (minimum 3 hours), and cancellation is possible up to 30 minutes before the transfer is processed.

There are also services such as the 'Designated Deposit Account Service,' which allows free transfers within the user’s electronic financial transfer limit only to pre-designated accounts but limits transfers to undesignated accounts to small amounts (up to 1 million KRW per day), and the 'Designated Terminal Service,' which permits major financial transactions only from pre-designated devices. Additionally, by using financial companies’ preventive services such as the 'Overseas IP Blocking Service' and the 'Notification Service for Elderly Designated Persons,' accounts can be managed safely.

If you fall victim to voice phishing, you should report the damage promptly to the financial company of your own or the scammer’s account or to the FSS call center to quickly suspend the account. You can check for identity theft damage through the Integrated Account Information Management Service, and if there are accounts opened without your knowledge, you can suspend them all at once through the 'My Account Suspension' menu.

If personal information has been exposed, you can register as a 'Personal Information Exposure Victim' on the Financial Consumer Portal 'Fine' website to prevent further identity theft damage. To prevent mobile phone identity theft, you can use the 'Identity Theft Prevention Service' to check the status of mobile phone, internet phone, and other telecommunications subscriptions opened without your knowledge. Also, using the 'Subscription Restriction Service,' which blocks new mobile phone subscriptions before damage occurs, can help prevent harm.