Access via KakaoTalk... Messenger Phishing Losses Surge 165% in First Half of the Year

Voice Phishing Losses Significantly Decrease, but Messenger Phishing Damages Increase

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The amount of damage caused by messenger phishing surged by 165% in the first half of this year. In particular, people aged 50 and above accounted for more than 90% of the messenger phishing damage amount.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 5th, the amount of damage caused by voice phishing in the first half of this year was 84.5 billion KRW, a 46.4% decrease compared to the same period last year. Following 672 billion KRW in 2019 and 235.3 billion KRW in 2020, the downward trend continues. The damage amount from impersonation of institutions such as the prosecution decreased by 81.1% to 6.3 billion KRW compared to the same period last year, and loan fraud also dropped by 70.4% to 31.6 billion KRW. However, messenger phishing damage through KakaoTalk, text messages, etc., impersonating family members, increased by 165.4% to 46.6 billion KRW in the first half, accounting for 55.1% of the total damage amount.

Scammers often indiscriminately send text messages pretending to be children, approaching parents with messages like "Your phone screen is broken." Among the messenger phishing damage amount in the first half, 93.9% occurred in the age group of 50 and above. Scammers mainly impersonate family members or acquaintances, add victims as KakaoTalk friends, then request identity card (photographed copy), account numbers, passwords, and other financial transaction information. They also make victims install malicious apps such as remote control apps and call interception apps, stealing authentication codes sent to the victim’s phone and personal information stored on the phone.

Using the stolen identity cards and financial transaction information, scammers open burner phones, open accounts, and conduct financial transactions under the victim’s name. As a result, damage often occurs without the victim’s knowledge, delaying damage relief applications. In particular, scammers use the stolen identity cards and financial transaction information to directly transfer balances from the victim’s ▲checking accounts, ▲cancel savings deposits and insurance, and ▲take out non-face-to-face loans under the victim’s name.

A Financial Supervisory Service official explained, "If you receive messages from unknown phone numbers or KakaoTalk claiming to be your son or daughter and requesting identity cards or financial transaction information, it is highly likely to be messenger phishing," adding, "Under no circumstances should you provide identity cards, account numbers, or passwords, and you must never click on URLs (remote control apps)."

He continued, "If you suffer from fraud, you should immediately request account suspension at the relevant financial company’s call center, the police agency, or the Financial Supervisory Service," and added, "We will strengthen cooperation with related organizations to enhance the voice phishing prevention and response system at financial companies and improve procedures for preventing and remedying voice phishing damage."

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