1,064 People Requested Changes Due to Identity Theft
Proxy Prescription and Other Identity Theft Crimes on the Rise
Most Offenders Receive Suspended Sentences or Fines
Over the past eight years, an average of about 130 people per year have requested changes to their resident registration numbers due to identity theft issues. Recently, identity theft crimes, such as purchasing or forging others' identification cards through social networking services (SNS), have become widespread, prompting calls to increase the severity of legal penalties.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 16th, from June 2017 to August last year, a total of 9,318 requests for resident registration number changes were recorded. Among these, 75% (7,042 people) of all applicants requested changes due to financial damages. Within the types of financial damages, voice phishing accounted for 67% (4,733 people), and identity theft accounted for 15% (1,064 people). This means that approximately 133 people per year request changes due to personal information theft issues.
In fact, recently, identity theft crimes have surged as it has become easy to forge or purchase identification cards through SNS. The number of cases involving fraudulent use of official documents, including identity card theft, recorded by the National Police Agency, nearly doubled from 946 cases in 2019 to 1,847 cases in 2023.
A representative identity theft crime is proxy prescription using another person's ID card. Since psychotropic drugs cannot be prescribed beyond a certain amount per person, medical treatment is obtained using someone else's name. In this process, IDs purchased online are used in crimes. The Seoul Eastern District Court last month sentenced a man in his 30s to two years in prison with a four-year probation for fraudulently receiving insurance benefits using a third party's ID card purchased on SNS. Defendant A was confirmed to have obtained about 3,000 psychotropic drug prescriptions from two hospitals using an ID card not in his own name.
Besides this, stolen IDs are also used for illegal mobile phone subscriptions and non-face-to-face loan scams. This exploits the fact that financial company applications verify identity through mobile phones. With just one mobile phone device opened under another person's name, loans can be obtained without visiting financial institutions. On the 7th, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that the victim B, whose loan contract was signed by another person using stolen ID, is not liable for the debt. Previously, telecom employee C used B's driver's license to open a mobile phone line, then opened a bank account under B's name through it. Subsequently, 1 million KRW loan funds were transferred to that account.
Despite the prevalence of identity theft crimes, actual punishments remain lenient. Under current law, resident registration identity theft crimes are punishable by up to three years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW. However, cases resulting in actual imprisonment are rare.
Asia Economy analyzed 10 first-instance court rulings on charges of violating the Resident Registration Act and found that only one case resulted in imprisonment. The defendant who received imprisonment committed the crime during a probation period. Even then, the prison term was less than one year. Four defendants who were first-time offenders received fines of up to 3 million KRW, while the remaining five defendants received suspended sentences or probation.
Experts emphasize the need to strengthen sentencing for resident registration card theft crimes along with institutional improvements. Attorney Beomhan Kim of law firm YK stated, "It is difficult to classify simple resident registration card theft as a serious crime, but from a crime prevention perspective, it is necessary to review sentencing levels to some extent." He added, "However, increasing sentences alone will not solve all problems, so institutional improvements such as strengthening crackdowns are needed."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
