"Mom, a Drunk Man Hit Me"... The Moment Broken by Crying, the Trap Was Already Set

Financial Supervisory Service Issues Consumer Alert at "Caution" Level
"Always Verify Your Child's Safety Directly"

As cases of voice phishing scams impersonating child abductions have recently increased, the Financial Supervisory Service issued a consumer alert at the "Caution" level on February 1.

The Financial Supervisory Service explained that voice phishing scams pretending to involve the abduction of minors are rampant, exploiting the names and contact information of minor children and their parents.

Scammers use artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate the sound of a child crying, heightening parents' anxiety, and then demand small transfers of around 500,000 won, committing the crime in a short period of time.

In many cases, they approach parents by phone in areas dense with private academies, providing specific information such as the child's name and the name of the academy.

Without giving detailed explanations, they first let the parent speak with the "child" and play the sound of the child crying to instill fear. They use AI-generated fake voices to deceive parents.

Once the parent falls for the scam, the perpetrator claims that the victim's child used foul language or broke their phone screen-lies that could plausibly occur in daily life-then pretends the child has been kidnapped and demands money.

The Financial Supervisory Service advised that if you receive a call about your child being kidnapped, you should hang up immediately and contact your child directly to verify the facts. If you have been deceived and sent money to the scammer, you should report it to the police right away and request a payment suspension on the relevant account.

The Financial Supervisory Service also informed the public that using AI voice phishing detection services provided by telecom companies can alert you to potential voice phishing via mobile phone notifications.

Suspicious phone numbers related to voice phishing can be reported on the National Police Agency's Integrated Response Team website. Reported suspicious numbers are urgently blocked by telecom companies within 10 minutes.

An official from the Financial Supervisory Service stated, "To prevent further spread of voice phishing damage, please report the phone numbers used by scammers."