Connecting Calls from Card Companies to Police and Prosecutors,
Inducing Installation of Malicious Apps
A cash collector for a voice phishing (telephone financial fraud) organization, who impersonated delivery drivers and investigative agencies by claiming "your card has been issued," has been arrested and detained.
On June 4, the Jinju Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province announced that it had apprehended and detained a Chinese national in his 30s, identified as A.
According to police, on or around May 13, A received and stole 32 million won in cash from two victims on a street in Gangdong-gu, Seoul.
On May 22, A attempted to receive a check worth approximately 171 million won from another victim on a street in Jinju, but was apprehended by police who were lying in wait after the victim reported the incident.
Investigations revealed that A and his associates approached victims by calling and claiming "your card has been issued."
If a victim responded, "I never applied for a card," they would instruct the victim to "contact the card company's emergency response team," providing the contact information for their own voice phishing organization.
The member of the organization posing as the "card company emergency response team" would then induce the victim to install a malicious app. Once the app was installed, they would claim, "It seems your identity has been stolen," and offer to connect the victim to 112 (the police emergency number).
The person impersonating "112 police" would say, "A prosecutor from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office is investigating this case," and transfer the call again.
The organization member playing the role of "prosecutor" would then threaten, "You are under investigation for committing crimes against banks and insurance companies in your name. If you do not cooperate, you may be detained."
They would further instruct, "To close the case, we need to verify all the money in your account," and direct the victim to withdraw all funds in their account as a single check.
Maintaining contact with the victim, they would ensure the victim obtained the check, instructing, "Do not go to work. Stay at home and when we call, come out and hand over the money," which the victim complied with.
Their scheme was foiled when a colleague, suspicious that the victim did not go to work, called to check on them.
After hearing the situation, the colleague advised, "This sounds like voice phishing," and the victim borrowed another person's mobile phone to report the incident to the police.
A police official explained, "Recently, voice phishing tactics have evolved to impersonate card delivery drivers, customer service centers, the Financial Supervisory Service, prosecutors, and investigators. If a malicious app is installed on the victim's mobile phone during this process, calls to the card company's main number, the police, or prosecutors will be redirected to the voice phishing organization."
The official added, "Voice phishing organizations use every means to isolate victims, cutting them off from outside contact and making them withdraw and deliver money as instructed."
The police official advised, "Any call claiming a card has been issued that you did not apply for is a scam. If you receive such a call, hang up immediately."
"Investigative agencies will never ask you to transfer or deliver money over the phone, so you should hang up in such cases as well. Card company customer service will never ask you to install an app, so if a representative instructs you to do so, do not install it and hang up immediately," the official emphasized.
The police stated, "We are strictly cracking down on voice phishing, operating an intensive enforcement period for 106 days until June 30, and conducting multifaceted public awareness campaigns and education focused on digitally vulnerable and socially disadvantaged groups. We will continue to strengthen our efforts in both apprehending offenders and preventing such crimes."
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