Police Launch 'All-Out War' on Voice Phishing...Crackdown on Loan-Disguised 'Bait Messages' and Malicious Apps

First Operation of Voluntary Surrender Period... 50 People per Month Gathered
Similar Number of Cases Detected in One Metropolitan City Office
Second Special Crackdown on '4 Major Crime Tools' Including Ghost Phones Until October

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] During the first-ever voluntary surrender period conducted by the police for crimes related to voice phishing and other ‘telecommunication financial fraud,’ it was confirmed that more than 50 related offenders surrendered each month.

According to the National Police Agency on the 18th, during the two-month period from June 15 to July 14, approximately 50 to 60 offenders surrendered each month as a result of operating the ‘Special Voluntary Surrender and Reporting Period for Telecommunication Financial Fraud’ for the first time. This scale is comparable to the number of voice phishing offenders caught by a single regional police agency during the same period. A National Police Agency official explained, "The exact final number of voluntary surrenders is currently being compiled," adding, "The types of offenders varied, including face-to-face extortion agents and withdrawal agents, and based on this, additional investigations such as tracing the upper echelons are underway."

While voluntary surrender periods have been operated for specific crimes such as drug offenses and illegal weapons, this is the first time it has been applied to telecommunication financial fraud, including voice phishing and smishing. The police encouraged voluntary reporting by offering opportunities to reduce or exempt sentences for those who surrendered and by adopting a principle of non-detention during investigations.

Before operating the voluntary surrender period, from April 21 to June 21, the police conducted a special crackdown on the four major criminal tools used in telecommunication financial fraud: ▲ burner phones ▲ burner bank accounts ▲ illegal modified relay devices for phone numbers ▲ illegal currency exchange. A total of 3,359 individuals were arrested, and 31,617 criminal tools were seized.

In particular, the largest domestic burner bank account supply organization, which caused damage amounting to 1.47 trillion won, was completely dismantled, and illegal currency exchange amounting to 31.2 billion won, used to send criminal proceeds to overseas organizations, was uncovered. Additionally, 311 illegal modified relay devices that change the caller ID of 070 internet phone calls from abroad to 010 mobile phone numbers were seized. This led to a decrease in telecommunication financial fraud cases from 4,017 in March to 2,808 in April and 2,406 in May.

The police began a second special crackdown on the four major criminal tools from today until October 18. In this second crackdown, ‘bait messages’ such as loan scams and impersonation of institutions, as well as the distribution of malicious apps, were added to the targets. This reflects the recent increase in cases where texts promising low-interest loans to small business owners are sent to attempt voice phishing. A National Police Agency official said, "Since the four major criminal tools have the characteristic that even if only one is cracked down on, the crime itself becomes difficult to carry out, we expect to prevent crime damage while also securing clues to trace the upper echelons," adding, "To eradicate telecommunication financial fraud, we will conduct strong crackdowns centered on specialized investigative personnel and actively recover criminal proceeds."

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