Voice Phishing Rampant Through NongHyup... Last Year's Damage Amount Doubled to 166.9 Billion Won

Assemblyman Hong Moon-pyo: "Even with Huge Budget and Manpower Investment by NongHyup, Fraud Crimes Increase"

Budget for Preventing Voice Phishing Damage by NongHyup in the Last 5 Years
/Source: Office of Hong Moon-pyo, People Power Party

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] NongHyup, which is highly exposed to voice phishing, invested up to 7 billion KRW and 35 personnel until last year to prevent it, but voice phishing scam damages have rather significantly increased.

On the 12th, Hong Moon-pyo, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee from the People Power Party, analyzed data submitted by NongHyup Central Association and NongHyup Bank, revealing that the number of voice phishing damage cases last year increased by 38.1% compared to 2018, and the damage amount more than doubled sharply.

Last year, 12,976 people suffered damages from voice phishing crimes through NongHyup, with the damage amount reaching a staggering 166.9 billion KRW. The average damage amount per person was found to be 12.86 million KRW. However, the amount recovered through account payment transaction suspension after scam damage reports was only 64.8 billion KRW, accounting for just 17.7% of the total scam damage amount.

From 2016 to this year, a total of 35,973 people were victims of voice phishing scams through NongHyup accounts, with cumulative damages amounting to 366.4 billion KRW. Assemblyman Hong Moon-pyo pointed out, "Despite NongHyup investing enormous budgets and personnel, the increase and sophistication of voice phishing crimes indicate that the damage prevention measures are inadequate," and added, "A thorough system must be established to prevent scam damages to elderly people in rural areas."

Meanwhile, last year, the number of accounts used in telecommunication financial frauds such as voice phishing and loan fraud in Korea reached about 78,000. This means that 215 accounts were used daily for scams such as voice phishing.

Assemblyman Yoo Dong-su of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, citing data titled 'Status of Fraud-Used Accounts under the Act on the Refund of Telecommunications Fraud Damage' received from the Financial Supervisory Service, reported that the total number of accounts used in telecommunication financial fraud last year was 78,302. This is 4.5 times higher than the 17,357 accounts recorded when the Financial Supervisory Service began compiling related statistics in 2011, marking an all-time high.

Since 2011, among mutual finance sectors, NongHyup had the highest number of accounts used in telecommunication financial fraud with 90,525 cases, followed by Saemaeul Geumgo (33,433 accounts) and the Post Office (25,926 accounts).

Assemblyman Yoo urged, "The complacency and delayed response of financial authorities are increasing financial consumer damages," and "Financial authorities must now prepare detailed and practical measures to eradicate phishing scams."

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