KakaoBank Uses AI to Combat Voice Phishing

Advanced Abnormal Transaction Detection System

On January 23, KakaoBank announced that it will strengthen its financial crime prevention technology by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and telecom authentication solutions.

First, KakaoBank has applied the telecom authentication solution "SurPASS" and "selfie authentication" to further enhance its response to voice phishing.

"SurPASS" is a telecom authentication solution developed to strengthen the prevention of non-face-to-face financial fraud. It is provided through a partnership between mobile carriers and Korea Credit Bureau (KCB). The abnormal transaction detection system (FDS) of financial institutions uses this solution to determine whether a transaction involves identity theft or is linked to voice phishing.

KakaoBank uses "SurPASS" to apply FDS to customer transactions with a high likelihood of voice phishing, and if any suspicious signs are detected, the company further verifies whether the transaction is legitimate, thereby preemptively blocking crimes.

For example, if a particular individual opens and uses multiple mobile lines, or if a SIM card is repeatedly changed on a single phone-both considered risk signals-KakaoBank's FDS is triggered to closely examine the transaction for abnormalities.

The "AI Voice Phishing Victim Detection" technology, which utilizes telecom AI, is also being implemented. This service analyzes customers’ call patterns using telecom AI to assess the risk level of voice phishing. If a customer is determined to have a high risk level and uses KakaoBank, the voice phishing FDS will conduct an additional review to verify the legitimacy of the transaction.

With the expanded application of FDS, "selfie authentication" has also been introduced. In this process, AI compares a selfie taken by the customer with their ID to verify their identity. This method is applied to account openings and one-time password (OTP) usage, thereby enhancing the security of various financial services. Previously, in the existing FDS, a customer service representative had to conduct a video call directly, but with the introduction of "selfie authentication," more incidents can now be prevented quickly.

Over the past year, KakaoBank protected approximately 38.5 billion won of customer assets through its FDS and other voice phishing prevention systems. In addition, the number of users of the "Mobile Identity Theft Prevention Service" has reached 4.5 million annually, demonstrating the company's active efforts to protect customer information.