Warning of Voice Phishing Targeting 'Contactless Chuseok'

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] It has been revealed that over the past five years, more than 170,000 victims have suffered from voice phishing, with total damages reaching 1.7 trillion KRW. As more households are spending Chuseok remotely this year due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), caution against voice phishing is also necessary.

According to data received by Kim Yong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Ministry of Justice and the Financial Supervisory Service, the amount of damage caused by voice phishing increased about 350% from 192.4 billion KRW in 2016 to 672 billion KRW in 2019. In particular, in 2019, an average of 198 cases per day occurred, with damages amounting to 1.84 billion KRW daily. This means that on average, 162 people per day were scammed for about 11.33 million KRW each.

Looking at the annual damage amounts and number of cases, it was 192.4 billion KRW (45,921 cases) in 2016, 243.1 billion KRW (50,013 cases) in 2017, 444 billion KRW (70,251 cases) in 2018, and 672 billion KRW (72,488 cases) in 2019, increasing by about 200 billion KRW each year.

By region, the damage amounts and number of cases were 446 billion KRW (66,000 cases) in Gyeonggi, 357.9 billion KRW (47,166 cases) in Seoul, and 116.4 billion KRW (18,299 cases) in Busan.

By age group, the largest damage was in the 50s with 552.5 billion KRW (78,857 cases), followed by the 40s with 410.5 billion KRW (69,469 cases), and the 60s with 312.1 billion KRW (37,055 cases).

Assemblyman Kim Yong-min stated, "I have doubts about whether the ‘Voice Phishing Pan-Government Task Force,’ which has involved seven agencies including the Ministry of Justice, Financial Services Commission, and the National Police Agency since 2012, has been meaningful." He pointed out, "Considering the continuous increase in damage scale, a comprehensive review is needed to determine whether inter-agency cooperation within the TF has been properly conducted."

He continued, "Since the Board of Audit and Inspection has also pointed out areas for improvement in the TF's activities, it is necessary to improve the TF's operation to ensure proper countermeasures are prepared." He emphasized, "Rapid countermeasures against new and evolving voice phishing methods and fundamental plans for crime prevention must be established."

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