Gwangju Bank recently received commendation certificates for employees at the Gwangju Songjeong Branch and the Seoul Yeouido Branch from the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station and the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station, respectively, for their efforts in preventing customers from falling victim to voice phishing scams. Photo by Gwangju Bank
Gwangju Bank announced on May 30 that employees at its Gwangju Songjeong Branch and Seoul Yeouido Branch recently received commendation certificates from the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station and the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station, respectively, for their efforts in preventing customers from falling victim to voice phishing scams.
An employee in charge of household loans at the Gwangju Songjeong Branch became suspicious when a customer who applied for a secured loan was seen repeatedly communicating with someone on their mobile phone during the consultation. The employee reconfirmed the purpose of the loan funds. Although the customer initially replied that the funds were for "remodeling," the loan review process revealed that the customer had taken out consecutive loans from other banks. Suspecting voice phishing, the employee reported the case to the police.
The responding officers discovered a remote-control app installed on the customer's mobile phone. This is a method that has become widespread recently, in which scammers send a link under the pretext of a "card delivery error" and induce the installation of an app. The installed app then intercepts calls and allows remote control of the phone.
As a result, even if the customer tried to call the police or family members, the call would be redirected to the scammer. In fact, the customer had already handed over tens of millions of won borrowed from another bank to the scammer. Thanks to the prompt response of the Gwangju Bank employee, the customer was able to avoid an additional loss of approximately 250 million won.
A similar case occurred at the Seoul Yeouido Branch. The employee in charge noticed unusual behavior from a customer who requested OTP reissuance and an increase in transfer limits after executing a loan remotely.
By immediately halting the transaction and notifying the police, it was confirmed that the customer had been deceived by a scammer impersonating a prosecutor, who claimed that the customer needed a loan to undergo a summary investigation for alleged identity theft.
The scammers persuaded the victim to take out a loan under the pretense of verifying illegal fund flows and isolated the victim in a specific accommodation, claiming it was part of a "confidential investigation," thereby cutting off outside contact. These are methods that have become common recently. Thanks to the calm judgment of the Gwangju Bank employee, approximately 79 million won in additional losses were prevented.
Kim Eunho, Chief Consumer Protection Officer (CCO) of Gwangju Bank, stated, "Gwangju Bank's achievements in preventing voice phishing losses are the result of operating the FDS (Fraud Detection System), monitoring by headquarters staff, the vigilance of branch employees, and prompt coordination with the police through the 112 emergency system. We will continue to do our utmost to protect our customers' valuable financial assets safely."
Meanwhile, Gwangju Bank operates a "24-hour x 365-day monitoring system" to monitor suspicious financial transactions and respond swiftly, even on weekday evenings and weekends. The bank prevented approximately 3.9 billion won in voice phishing losses last year and about 1.9 billion won up to May this year, thereby safeguarding customers' valuable assets from crime.
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