'On-site Support' Service Also Available for Seniors Aged 70 and Above
Woori Bank will provide financial support by offering preferential interest rates of 1.5 percentage points each on deposits and loans to elderly customers aged 60 and above who have suffered losses due to voice phishing starting from today. In addition, a dedicated consultation channel will be established and operated for elderly people aged 70 and above who are vulnerable to voice phishing, to assist with administrative procedures such as reporting and applying for damage relief.
On the 2nd, Woori Bank held a press conference at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, attended by Jeong Hyun-ok, Executive Vice President and Chief Officer of Financial Consumer Protection, under the theme "Crossing the Line of Voice Phishing, How to Protect My Family from Voice Phishing."
First, Woori Bank is the first in the financial sector to provide interest rate support targeting customers aged 60 and above with an annual income of 20 million KRW or less, who hold loans or fixed deposits/savings at the time of the incident. For loans, interest rates will be reduced by up to 1.5 percentage points for one year on loan balances of 30 million KRW or less, and for deposits/savings, interest rates will be increased by up to 1.5 percentage points on balances of 10 million KRW or less.
Additionally, Woori Bank is introducing an on-site support service for elderly victims (or suspected victims) of voice phishing aged 70 and above, also a first in the financial sector. The target group is elderly people aged 70 and above with an annual income of 20 million KRW or less who live alone. When they call the consultation channel, Woori Bank staff will visit the site in person to assist with police reporting and damage relief applications, handling all related administrative procedures.
Earlier last month, Woori Bank also introduced and has been operating the first-ever "Voice Phishing Compensation Insurance" in the financial sector. Executive Vice President Jeong stated, "Woori Bank will actively cooperate with financial authorities and related organizations to become the number one bank in voice phishing prevention and financial consumer protection, continuously improving related systems and regulations."
Meanwhile, Woori Bank analyzed recent popular voice phishing cases and introduced prevention and response guidelines. According to Woori Bank, the amount of damage by voice phishing type last year showed that loan impersonation accounted for 69.2 billion KRW, representing 35.2% of all voice phishing types. The bank explained that loan solicitations via phone calls or text messages are mostly voice phishing or illegal private loans, so people should not respond and should verify the legitimacy of the financial institution through the Financial Supervisory Service website or the Bankers Association Consumer Portal.
The amount of damage from impersonation of acquaintances also reached 66.2 billion KRW, accounting for 33.7%. Woori Bank advised, "There are cases where deep voice technology is used to replicate the actual voice of acquaintances or situations where it is difficult to communicate, so one must verify authenticity using information known to family and oneself," and urged, "Do not expose information such as family names or birthdates on social networking services (SNS) that scammers could exploit."
Impersonation of public institutions, where scammers request resident registration numbers, account numbers, or send links (URLs) named after security programs or investigative agency websites to induce installation, accounted for 61.1 billion KRW in damages, representing 31.1%. The bank emphasized that no public institution requests personal information, so people should not respond. Additionally, smishing, which installs malware on smartphones through links to steal personal and financial information, was also significant.
Woori Bank listed three emergency response measures to take when victimized by voice phishing: ▲ immediately suspend account transactions ▲ take measures to prevent secondary damage ▲ take steps for damage relief. In case of damage, considering the possibility of smishing, victims should report to the "Voice Phishing Integrated Reporting and Response Center" using another person's phone and immediately suspend transactions through the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute's integrated account management service.
To prevent secondary damage, victims should register as "personal information exposed" on the Financial Supervisory Service's FINE platform and use the "identity theft prevention service" for mobile phones to check for unauthorized numbers opened without consent or block additional activations. For damage relief, victims should visit the nearest police station to obtain a "Certificate of Incident and Accident" and submit it to the financial institution where the transaction suspension was requested within three business days.
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