"I Was Relying on an Overdraft... Lost 50 Million Won After Clicking a Condolence Message"

After Phone Service Cancellation, New Activation Message Arrives
50 Million Won Withdrawn in 10 Million Won Increments Every 10 Seconds
Driver's License Saved on Mobile Phone

After clicking on a condolence message, a driver's license saved on a mobile phone was hacked, resulting in 50 million won being withdrawn from a bank account in an instant.

A smishing incident occurred where a driver's license saved on a mobile phone was hacked after clicking on a condolence message. CBS Radio's "Kim Hyunjung's News Show"

Mr. A, a victim of smishing (a portmanteau of SMS and phishing), said on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyunjung's News Show" on April 23, "The money was withdrawn in almost 30 seconds," adding, "I immediately reported it to the police."

He learned about the crime in February after receiving a text message from his mobile carrier about the cancellation of his phone service. He said, "I got a cancellation message from SK Telecom, and then 10 minutes later, I received a message that my phone had been activated with LG Uplus, and my phone suddenly stopped working."

He continued, "I rushed to a nearby (carrier) branch and told them my phone was not working. The staff at the branch said, 'Your phone has been 99% hacked. You need to take action immediately.' So I went to LG Uplus, but they said since the phone was activated as an MVNO, they did not have the authority to cancel the service."

Soon after, Mr. A received alerts on his wife's mobile phone that a total of 10 million won had been withdrawn five times from his overdraft account. He explained, "I had set up my overdraft account alerts to go to my wife's phone." The entire process, from the phone cancellation to the withdrawal of 50 million won, took only about 20 minutes.

Mr. A speculated that clicking on the condolence message was the beginning of the incident. He said, "Two or three months ago, I received a condolence message from someone I didn't know, and it asked me to download something. So I downloaded it, but the website didn't open, and suddenly my screen froze."

Mr. A added, "The police asked if I had a driver's license on my phone when it was hacked. I told them I had one saved, and they said that could have led to the leak of my personal information and the financial loss."

Mr. A said, "I've been running a Jjamppong restaurant for five years, and the economy feels even tougher than during COVID-19. I've been relying on an overdraft account, and now this has happened. Even after suffering this kind of damage, there's no institution I can appeal to. It feels like they're telling me to just give up."

Experts advised that this is an evolved form of smishing and recommended using apps that prevent the installation of malicious applications. Yeom Heungyeol, Professor Emeritus of Information Security at Soonchunhyang University, explained, "Typically, hackers can use information from an ID card to create forged identification. If hackers exploit security loopholes when activating mobile phones, such as with MVNOs, it becomes possible to create another phone under someone else's name."