[Becoming an Insurance Insider] Trying to Consult Insurance, Falling Victim to Voice Phishing

Inducing Personal Information Input for Insurance Consultation
Strengthening Customer Guidance to Prevent Voice Phishing
Government to Intensify Voice Phishing Crackdown Until Year-End

[Editor's Note] Difficult insurance, a clear explanation of insurance that remains confusing even after listening to explanations. There is no bad insurance in the world, only insurance that doesn't suit me. Following easy-to-understand insurance explanations, the path to becoming an 'insurance insider' is not far away.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Choi Su-jin (pseudonym, 28), an office worker who was searching for information online to subscribe to children's insurance, followed an insurance agent's instruction to enter personal information including her phone number and additionally install an application to receive insurance consultation. A few days later, she received a voice phishing call impersonating a financial institution asking if she wanted to proceed with a loan, and she immediately hung up.

Choi said, "I recently changed my phone number, but I don't know how they knew and called with a voice phishing attempt," expressing frustration, "I wonder if my information was leaked from the insurance site."

Cases of personal information used for voice phishing and scam calls after subscribing to insurance are increasing. Recently, there has been a rise in cases where users are induced to install specific applications or enter personal information, which is then exploited for voice phishing. Insurance companies are also busy preparing countermeasures against voice phishing.

According to the insurance industry on the 23rd, Hanwha Life announced on the 12th that it will operate a center for reporting voice phishing, which has been rapidly increasing in damage, on a 24-hour basis.

Until now, voice phishing suspicion reports were only possible during call center operating hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

From now on, Hanwha Life customers can report suspected personal information leaks or voice phishing anytime through Hanwha Life ARS. During call center operating hours, reports can also be made through a counselor.

Once a report is received, restrictions on insurance contract loans and credit loan services are immediately applied. If the report is received via ARS after business hours, the next day a call center counselor will directly contact the customer by phone to verify the authenticity, and if the customer reported by mistake, the restriction can be lifted without a visit.

Kyobo Life also strengthened customer guidance to prevent voice phishing.

Starting this month, when customers change their mobile phone numbers at mobile or internet windows, text messages containing voice phishing precautions are sent in real-time to both the old and new numbers to provide guidance.

Also, when customers request account registration or changes through the call center after changing their phone number, call center counselors directly call the old phone number to verify authenticity. Accounts without transaction history with Kyobo Life are restricted from using mobile or internet windows, and the limit for insurance contract loans via mobile or internet is also reduced.

These measures are to prevent cases where phone numbers are stolen and damages occur due to voice phishing.

The government has also decided to conduct intensive crackdowns on voice phishing until the end of the year. Joint intensive crackdowns on illegal financial activities such as voice phishing will be conducted by related agencies, and mass text message sending agencies and some equipment rental telecommunications companies that could be exploited for financial fraud will be closely inspected.

Furthermore, supervision of "dapo-pon" (phones used for illegal purposes), a major means of voice phishing, will be significantly strengthened. Unused lines of expired prepaid phones, deceased persons, foreigners who have left the country, and closed corporations will be regularly cleared, and the clearing cycle will be shortened.

In addition, the installation of a "whitelist (tampering blocking list)" of major phone numbers of public and financial institutions will be greatly increased, and it will be possible to suspend the use of the corresponding phone number within two days after reporting voice phishing damage.

Meanwhile, according to financial authorities, voice phishing damage amounted to 122 billion KRW from the beginning of this year to April, a 43% decrease compared to the same period last year. The number of damage cases also decreased by 49% to 13,084 cases. Although voice phishing damage has recently slowed down, it is predicted that damage will increase again as the disaster situation due to the novel coronavirus infection eases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.