Announcement of Mobile Phone and Email Spam Volume
Monthly Average 16.34 Messages... Up 2.85 from Last Year
The volume of illegal spam messages received in the first half of this year reached an all-time high.
The Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) announced the "2024 First Half Spam Distribution Status" on the 6th.
This data includes the results of a survey on the volume of illegal spam messages received by users in the first half of this year, as well as an analysis of spam reports and detections received via mobile phones and email.
A survey of 3,000 mobile phone and email users nationwide (aged 12 to 69) on the amount of illegal spam received per person found that the average monthly reception was 16.34 messages, an increase of 2.85 messages compared to the second half of last year, marking the highest figure ever recorded.
The number of text spam messages received per person on mobile phones was 11.59, up 2.68 from the second half of last year. Spam related to finance, such as stocks and asset management, and gambling accounted for a high proportion. In particular, illegal spam inducing stock investment increased by 25.9% compared to the first half.
When the volume of spam messages received per person on mobile phones was broken down by mobile carrier, text spam increased across all providers compared to the first half. The average number of spam emails received per person was 3.22, an increase of 0.11 from the second half of last year. The main advertising types were pharmaceuticals, adult content, and gambling.
The total number of mobile phone text spam reports and detections, either reported by users to KISA or detected through KISA’s own spam trap system, was 211.5 million, an increase of 14.3% (26.41 million) compared to the second half of last year.
Among the reported and detected text spam, domestic bulk text message services accounted for 74.9%, maintaining the highest proportion continuously.
The proportion of text spam sent from overseas increased by 6.9% compared to the second half of last year, accounting for 23.6%, indicating a gradual rise in the share of overseas-sent text spam.
The number of voice spam reports and detections totaled 6.01 million, an increase of 22.7% (1.11 million). Among these, the largest advertising category was telecommunications subscriptions (47.9%), followed by gambling types such as lottery (36.5%).
Shin Young-gyu, Director of the Broadcasting and Communications User Policy Bureau, stated, "In the first half of this year, text spam through bulk text message services surged, and illegal spam sent from overseas also increased. We will steadily implement the comprehensive measures to prevent illegal spam announced at the end of last month."
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