Joint Announcement by Government Ministries Including the Ministry of Science and ICT
Beware of Smishing Scams Stealing Personal Information
Malicious Apps Also Installed via QR Codes
A warning has been issued regarding smishing scams disguised as holiday gifts to extract money and impersonation of public institutions during the Lunar New Year holiday period.
The Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, the Financial Services Commission, the National Police Agency, the Korea Internet & Security Agency, and the Financial Supervisory Service have urged the public to exercise special caution against various cyber frauds.
Recently, damages caused by the distribution of malicious application text messages have significantly increased. In particular, a very high proportion of messages impersonate government and public institutions or platform companies such as social networking services (SNS) commonly used in daily life to steal account information.
Looking at the status of text message scams over the past three years since 2022, impersonation of government and public institutions involving fines and penalties accounted for the largest share with approximately 1.62 million cases (59.4%). The type involving account theft by impersonating SNS companies has surged recently, with about 460,000 cases (16.9%).
The government warned, "Around the Lunar New Year holiday, as family and relatives increase vehicle movements, malicious messages may be widely distributed that induce checking of fines and penalties or encourage checking refund amounts during the year-end tax settlement period."
It added, "Malicious messages inducing infection by malicious apps may be spread by exploiting situations where people can easily be deceived, such as holiday gifts and money transfers for New Year's greetings."
▲Smishing text message disguised as a police summons (Source: Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency)
There is also concern about 'Qusing' (QR code + phishing) scams that exploit QR codes frequently used for shared electric scooters and event information to induce installation of malicious apps, so caution is necessary.
If you receive delivery notifications, payment requests, or refund account input messages for items you did not purchase or were not previously contacted about, it is emphasized that you should not click on the internet address (URL) included in the message and should first verify the facts.
If a malicious app capable of remote control is installed through distributed malicious text messages, property damage may occur. Therefore, before confirming the other party accurately via phone or video call, do not comply with requests to install malicious apps.
If you find an online shopping mall selling holiday gifts at an unusually low price, check the business information, seller history, customer reviews, and whether there are any customer complaint posts online before purchasing. When buying, use a credit card that allows cancellations if possible, and avoid transactions with sellers who induce cash transactions by offering additional discounts as bait.
Before the long holiday, it is advised to avoid non-face-to-face transactions as much as possible and to check for fraud reports first through services such as the National Police Agency’s 'Internet Fraud Suspicious Phone Number and Account Number Inquiry Service' before making transactions.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency will operate a 24-hour detection system during the Lunar New Year holiday period to respond quickly to text message scams and support emergency blocking measures for financial scam sites and malicious app distribution sites through text payment scam verification services.
Also, by adding 'Boho Nara' as a channel friend on the KakaoTalk app and entering suspicious text messages through the 'Smishing' menu or scanning QR codes through the 'Qusing' menu, the content will be analyzed and a response of 'Caution,' 'Malicious,' or 'Normal' will be provided within 10 minutes.
The National Police Agency will inform that even during the holiday period, victims of cybercrimes such as smishing can report by calling 112 or submit damage reports online through the National Police Agency’s Cybercrime Reporting System (ECRM).
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