Spam Cases in Q2 Increase by 90,000 Compared to Q1... Loan and Insurance Types

Hoohu & Company Announces Spam Statistics for Q2

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] In the second quarter of this year, 6.92 million spam reports were received, an increase of about 90,000 cases compared to the previous quarter. Spam related to stocks and investments, illegal games, and gambling decreased, but loan and insurance subscription solicitation spam surged sharply.

WhoWho & Company, which provides the spam blocking application 'WhoWho,' announced the spam statistics reported by WhoWho users in the second quarter of 2021 on the 28th.

The increase in the total number of reports was largely influenced by the rise in loan solicitation spam. Loan solicitation spam increased by about 1.11 million cases compared to the same period last year and by about 340,000 cases compared to the first quarter, reaching about 2.25 million reports. This is the first time since WhoWho spam statistics have been compiled that a single category has exceeded 2 million cases, marking the highest quarterly figure.

Insurance subscription spam also showed a significant increase this quarter. This category increased by about 40,000 cases compared to the previous quarter, with about 290,000 reports received, representing a 17% rise. Although its share of total reports is small, its growth rate ranks second, following the 18% increase in loan solicitation spam from the previous quarter.

On the other hand, spam related to stock and investment solicitations and illegal games and gambling decreased by about 60,000 and 160,000 cases respectively compared to the previous quarter, recording approximately 1.88 million and 890,000 reports respectively.

Qualitative analysis of individual spam content revealed an increase in tactics that impersonate financial institutions to induce calls under the pretext of consulting on financial products such as loans and insurance. Since voice phishing groups unrelated to finance can also impersonate financial institutions, customers need to exercise careful caution.

To prevent damage caused by impersonation of financial institutions, WhoWho & Company signed a 'Business Agreement to Eradicate Loan Fraud and Illegal Loan Spam Messages' in January last year with 15 organizations and associations including the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the Korea Federation of Banks, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives. Currently, the WhoWho app uses a 'whitelist' feature with a database of 150,000 entries to distinguish and guide trusted financial institution phone numbers from bank impersonation and illegal loan numbers.

Huh Tae-beom, CEO of WhoWho & Company, explained, "Since the third quarter of last year, there has been a continuous increase in messages that impersonate financial institutions, claiming that additional financial support is being provided through government policy funds and urging consumers to apply within a deadline. If the number is not the bank’s main number, it is highly likely to be an illegal lending company or voice phishing, so it is very important to verify the phone number."

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