'Bulk Payment Suspension for Own Accounts' to Prevent Voice Phishing... 490,000 Cases in One Year

Sharp Increase in Usage Volume After the Second Half Following Expansion to Offline Channels

The number of uses of the 'Unified Account Payment Suspension' service to prevent voice phishing damage has reached 490,000 cases in one year.

On the 21st, the Financial Services Commission announced that since the service started in December 2022, the average monthly number of uses through online and offline channels was about 41,000, accumulating to 490,000 cases. The average monthly usage in the second half of last year, when the service application channels were expanded offline, was 77,000 cases, which is 15 times the average monthly usage of 5,000 cases in the first half. This expansion of service application channels greatly improved financial consumers' accessibility and usage performance.

The Financial Services Commission launched the service on the Financial Settlement Service's Account Info website and mobile app, and in July 2023, to enhance service accessibility for the elderly vulnerable to scams such as voice phishing and digitally marginalized groups, implemented a second-phase operation plan expanding service application channels from online to offline, including branches and customer centers.

Kim Suho, Director of Financial Stability at the Financial Services Commission, explained, "The convenience of being able to suspend all payments from one's accounts with a single phone call anytime and anywhere in case of damage from voice phishing, including for digitally marginalized groups, along with psychological relief provided by specialized voice phishing counseling staff, has led to the latent demand for offline services becoming apparent."

Currently, banks (19 companies), securities firms (23 companies), and secondary financial sectors (7 industries*) participate in the Unified Account Payment Suspension service, allowing applications for suspension of all accounts under one's name at almost all branches and customer centers of sectors issuing accounts.

The Financial Services Commission plans to continuously monitor service usage status together with the Financial Settlement Service and improve consumer inconveniences, supporting financial consumers to actively protect their assets from increasingly sophisticated financial fraud.