Jo Incheol Proposes Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act
Jo Incheol, a National Assembly member from the Democratic Party of Korea, announced on the 19th that he has sponsored a partial amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act aimed at fundamentally blocking the distribution of burner phones and caller ID spoofing devices, which are tools used in voice phishing crimes.
Voice phishing crime methods, such as impersonating institutions or offering fake loans, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and intelligent. The scale of damage is also on the rise, reaching 1.0566 trillion won as of last month. This is the first time that annual damages have surpassed 1 trillion won.
In particular, burner phones continue to be used as communication tools connecting criminals and victims. In some cases, individuals lend their identities in exchange for money, or have their identities stolen without their knowledge, resulting in burner phones being activated under their names.
However, during the current mobile phone activation process, there are insufficient procedures to inform users about the illegality and legal liabilities associated with burner phones, leading to activations occurring without users being fully aware of these risks.
Additionally, services designed to prevent identity theft or restrict subscriptions must be applied for directly by users, which has consistently been criticized as ineffective in preventing the activation of burner phones in advance.
Caller ID spoofing devices, which disguise international calls as domestic numbers (010), are also a major tool in voice phishing. These devices can be easily installed by anyone without specialized skills and are brought into and distributed within the country via direct overseas purchases without customs restrictions, yet there is currently no legal basis to regulate them.
The key points of the amendment proposed by Assemblyman Jo are: ▲ mandating that users be informed of the illegality and legal liabilities of burner phones when activating mobile phones; ▲ making identity theft prevention and subscription restriction services the default without requiring separate applications; and ▲ completely prohibiting the manufacture, sale, import, and possession of caller ID spoofing devices, as well as blocking their entry at the customs stage.
Assemblyman Jo stated, "While voice phishing methods continue to evolve, responses have often been limited to post-incident measures such as blocking accounts or numbers after the damage has occurred. Through this legislation, I intend to proactively prevent voice phishing damages by blocking criminal tools such as burner phones and caller ID spoofing devices."
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