"Suspect Phishing When Asked for Culture Gift Certificate PIN Numbers"

Messenger Phishing Cases Surge Compared to Last Year
Middle-Aged and Older Adults Unfamiliar with Buying and Using Online Gift Cards Are Main Targets

Cases of Messenger Phishing.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] "If an acquaintance asks you to share a cultural gift certificate 'PIN number,' suspect 'messenger phishing.'

The messenger phishing (text financial fraud) method, which impersonates acquaintances via messengers like KakaoTalk to demand money, is evolving. Instead of simply asking for money transfers, the method now involves requesting unique numbers (PIN numbers) of cultural gift certificates or gift cards for online payments, or even inducing online payments through remote control of mobile phones.

The scale of messenger phishing damage is increasing every year. According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 23rd, from January to September this year, there were a total of 6,799 messenger phishing cases, with damages amounting to 29.7 billion KRW. This represents an increase of 14.6% and 25.3%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

In particular, recently, the method of inducing the transmission of PIN numbers of securities such as cultural gift certificates has been rampant. The criminal starts a KakaoTalk conversation disguised as the victim's acquaintance and says, "If you buy a gift certificate on my behalf, I will send you money." Then, after asking for the PIN number of the gift certificate, they disappear. With just the PIN number, the gift certificate can be used online. This method mainly targets middle-aged and older people who are not familiar with purchasing and using online gift certificates. In some cases, they even ask for card information and passwords because the victim has to buy the gift certificate. There is also a method that induces victims who are not good at using smartphones to install remote control apps like 'TeamViewer' and then make online payments.

The National Police Agency has decided to cooperate with the Korea Convenience Store Industry Association and major convenience store companies such as CU, GS25, Ministop, 7-Eleven, and C Space to prevent related crimes. Starting from the 27th of this month, when customers visit convenience stores and purchase cultural gift certificates (50,000 KRW) or Google gift cards (100,000 KRW) above a certain amount, the POS (point of sale) system will display and broadcast messenger phishing prevention warnings and guidance screens and audio. In addition, the police will distribute messenger phishing damage prevention educational videos produced by the National Police Agency to convenience store owners and employees nationwide and conduct crime prevention education to actively guide customers if suspicious behavior related to the crime is detected.

To prevent messenger phishing damage, if children or acquaintances request money or personal information via messenger, always verify by phone with the person themselves. It is also necessary to strengthen security settings to prevent unverified apps from being installed on mobile phones.

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