Helper's First Day at Work: Early Leave Due to "Son Confinement" Call
Baby's Father Is a Police Officer... Quick Response Prevents Harm
A woman in her 50s, who had just started working as a postpartum caregiver, almost fell victim to a telephone financial scam (voice phishing) and was about to hand over a large sum of money. However, the baby's father, a police officer who happened to be at home, quickly responded and prevented the damage.
At around 9 a.m. on the 1st of last month, Ms. A, who had just started working as a postpartum caregiver at a home in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Province, received a call from a caller ID labeled "son" as soon as she began her work. Upon answering, Ms. A began trembling severely and looked pale. The voice on the other end, claiming to be her son, said, "I borrowed money from a private lender and haven't repaid it, so I am being held captive," and added, "I need 20 million won immediately to be released."
He also said, "You must never hang up the phone." Ms. A borrowed the baby's father's phone, who was at home at the time, to inform her husband of the situation and then left work early, saying, "Something came up, so I have to go." The baby's father, whose phone Ms. A borrowed, was Sergeant Kim Seok-hwan (37) of the Administrative Division at Hongcheon Police Station. Having been off duty and resting at home after his shift the previous day, Sergeant Kim found the situation suspicious. He tried to contact Ms. A, who had left early, but the line was continuously busy. Sensing it was a voice phishing attempt, Sergeant Kim called Ms. A's husband using the number saved in his phone's call log and explained that the call Ms. A received was definitely a voice phishing scam. He then identified the meeting place between Ms. A and her husband and immediately reported the incident to 112. Fortunately, Ms. A was able to avoid any loss.
After resolving the situation, Sergeant Kim checked Ms. A's phone when she returned to work in the afternoon and discovered that the voice phishing group exploited a vulnerability in smartphones that recognize the same number if the last eight digits of the phone number match, displaying the saved contact name. Because of this, Ms. A was unable to realize that the call she received was from overseas and had no choice but to believe it was her son calling. The police changed Ms. A's phone settings to block calls originating from overseas and provided follow-up measures, including educating her on how to prevent voice phishing.
Sergeant Kim said, "I just did what anyone would do, so I feel embarrassed that this is being publicized," and added, "I am very relieved that Ms. A did not suffer any damage." He continued, "As voice phishing tactics are becoming increasingly sophisticated these days, please discard the thought of 'It won't happen to me' and report any suspicious calls to the police."
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