Don't Be Fooled by "Mom, It's Me, Your Daughter"... Messenger Phishing Victims Surge

Impersonation of Family and Acquaintances in 'Messenger Phishing'
Voice Phishing Cases Decrease, New Methods Emerge
"Refuse Requests for ID and Personal Information"

Messenger Phishing Scam Methods (Source: Financial Supervisory Service)

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] "Mom, I'm your daughter, but my phone is broken. I urgently need money, so please send me 100,000 won."

Although voice phishing damage decreased last year, new types of scams using messengers have increased, requiring consumer caution.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 15th, the amount of damage from voice phishing last year was 235.3 billion won, a 65.0% decrease from the previous year. However, damage from messenger phishing impersonating family or acquaintances increased by 9.1%, from 34.2 billion won to 37.3 billion won.

Looking at the age distribution of messenger phishing victims, those in their 50s accounted for 43.3%, and those in their 60s accounted for 42.5%, making up the majority (85.8%) of all messenger phishing damage.

Messenger phishing mainly involved impersonating children to approach victims, inducing friend requests, and demanding the installation of malicious applications.

Claiming to perform payment or membership verification, they demanded the victim’s ID card, account number and password, credit card number, etc., and used these to open phones and non-face-to-face accounts under the victim’s name, then took out bank loans, card loans, and contract loans under the victim’s name to steal money.

Voice Phishing Damage Status (Source: Financial Supervisory Service)

On the other hand, the amount of damage from loan fraud impersonating financial companies was higher among men at 61.2% compared to women at 38.8%.

This method approaches victims by claiming low-interest loans are possible, demands loan processing fees and advance interest payments, or induces victims to transfer repayment funds for existing loans to fraudulent accounts.

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to identify cases by age, gender, and type of damage to inform consumers, and to issue consumer alerts promptly to prevent the spread of damage if there is concern about an increase in voice phishing or new methods emerge.

They also send warning text messages about voice phishing in cooperation with the National Police Agency and strengthen cooperation by sharing information on voice phishing damage cases with investigative agencies such as prosecutors and police.

A financial authority official urged, "If you receive a messenger message claiming to be from family or acquaintances saying their phone is broken or lost and they cannot be contacted, stop the message conversation and verify directly by phone call," adding, "If you are asked to install apps from unknown sources or provide ID cards or personal information, you should refuse unconditionally."

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