Amid the Spread of Non-Face-to-Face Interactions, 'Cyber Fraud' Surges... 73% Increase Over 5 Years

Most Victims and Perpetrators in Their 20s
Highest Increase Rate Among Those in Their 60s
Assemblyman Oh Young-hwan: "Long-Term COVID-19 Pandemic Requires Countermeasures"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] As the COVID-19 situation prolongs, the representative non-face-to-face crime, 'cyber fraud,' has significantly increased.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Oh Young-hwan, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the number of cyber fraud cases, which was 100,000 in 2016, rose sharply by 73% to 174,000 last year over five years.

The total number of cyber fraud cases over the past five years is 615,407. Both suspects and victims in their 20s were the most numerous, with 84,577 suspects and 257,102 victims in their 20s.

In terms of growth rate, the increase among suspects and victims aged 60 and over was the largest. The number of suspects aged 60 and over increased by 62%, from 212 in 2016 to 344 last year, and victims increased by as much as 438%, from 786 to 4,235 during the same period.

Representative Oh emphasized, "With the prolonged COVID-19 situation, measures such as focused management and strengthening preventive education to reduce cyber fraud are necessary."

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