Financial Supervisory Service Warns "Beware of Illegal Private Loans and Voice Phishing Before and After Seollal Holiday"

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) urged caution on the 16th against various financial crimes that infringe on people's livelihoods, such as illegal private loans and smishing (a combination of SMS and phishing), ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, when demand for funds among low-income and vulnerable groups surges.

The FSS first highlighted cases where illegal private loan operators exploit situations requiring urgent cash loans before the holiday by approaching with provocative advertising phrases. These operators mainly induce short-term small loans to illegally collect high-interest rates exceeding the legal maximum annual interest rate of 20%, or engage in malicious illegal debt collection practices such as threatening to inform acquaintances of the debtor’s obligations or to distribute the debtor’s photos if the loan is not repaid.

To avoid such damages, it is necessary to check the policy financial products for low-income earners provided by the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency before using illegal private loans, or to verify whether a lending company is officially registered before using their services. If damage from illegal private loans such as high interest rates or illegal debt collection has already occurred, it is essential to secure transaction records and evidence and report them to the police or the FSS.

Voice phishing, which involves sending fake text messages under the pretense of parcel delivery, credit card issuance, event notifications, or fine payments to fraudulently obtain funds, also continues unabated. The FSS warned that smishing is expected to increase especially before and after the Lunar New Year holiday, when parcel volumes surge, urging heightened vigilance.

Accordingly, the FSS advised never to click on internet addresses (URLs) of unclear origin in text messages. If a malicious application (app) is installed during the voice phishing process, the phone may be under the control of the fraudster, so it is necessary to turn off the phone or switch it to airplane mode and then visit the nearest mobile carrier to reset the phone. If personal information such as ID cards or account numbers has been exposed, it is important to register with the FSS’s 'Personal Information Exposure Accident Prevention System' to prevent additional damages such as new account openings or credit card issuances.