Preventing Loan Scams with Simple Registration Process... Implementation of Safe Blocking Service

Safe Block Service for Goddess Transactions Launches on 23rd
Visit Branch to Enroll if Voice Phishing Suspected
Cancellation Available at Nearby Banks
"A Shield to Safely Protect National Financial Life"

Mr. A received a mobile wedding invitation text message and clicked on the internet address (URL). A malicious application (app) was installed on his mobile phone, and his personal credit information was stolen by a criminal organization. Using the stolen information, the criminal organization went through mobile phone identity verification and stole about 100 million KRW by taking out loans and canceling deposits at three banks. Mr. A only became aware of the damage and reported it to the police after four days.

To prevent such damage from credit transactions, a service that can preemptively block new personal credit transactions was launched on the 23rd. On the day of the launch, Kim Byung-hwan, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, visited the service registration site to actively promote and support the service.

The Credit Transaction Safety Blocking Service is a service that can preemptively block new credit transactions such as credit loans, card loans, and credit card issuance. It also includes installment financing, savings and deposit-secured loans, among others. The service involves 4,012 financial institutions (including cooperative unions) such as banks, financial investment firms, insurance companies, credit specialized financial companies, savings banks, as well as mutual finance and the Korea Post. Local government-registered loan businesses that do not concentrate information with the Credit Information Center are excluded.

To subscribe to this service, customers must visit the branches of their current banks, savings banks, NongHyup, Suhyup, ShinHyup, Saemaeul Geumgo, Forestry Cooperatives, or post offices in person for identity verification. Once the blocking request is made, new credit transactions in the financial sector are immediately blocked. If users want to resume new credit transactions after subscribing, they can visit the nearest financial institution branch to lift the block regardless of existing transactions. When lifting the block, branch staff verify whether the request is related to voice phishing (telecommunication financial fraud), identity theft, or other issues. Whether the safety block is applied or lifted can be directly checked on the Korea Credit Information Services website. Financial institutions that receive the application notify customers of the safety block application via text message or email once every six months. Registering for the service does not affect personal credit scores or credit ratings.

The Credit Transaction Safety Blocking Service will be implemented by most financial institutions starting today. Internet banks, insurance companies, and credit specialized financial companies require additional time for system development and are expected to apply the service by September. The financial authorities plan to gradually review the introduction of non-face-to-face applications, proxy applications and cancellations, and non-face-to-face account opening services after monitoring the operation results.

To mark the launch, Chairman Kim Byung-hwan and Governor Lee Bok-hyun visited the NongHyup Bank headquarters to learn about the service registration process and encouraged the staff for their efforts. Afterwards, they attended a meeting with related organizations (Credit Information Center, Korea Post) and financial associations and central organizations to discuss measures to prevent voice phishing damage. They listened to consumer opinions on damage prevention and urged the financial sector to actively promote and support the service.

Chairman Kim said, “I hope that the Credit Transaction Safety Blocking Service launched today will become a strong shield that safely protects the financial lives of the people.” Governor Lee added, “No matter how good the system is, it only matters if it is widely used in the field, so please make efforts to actively guide and promote it to customers at branches.”