Last Year, Fraud Losses Exceeded 40 Trillion Won... Recovery Amount Only 1 Trillion Won

'Computer and Other Usage Frauds' Surge
Rep. Im Hoseon "Victims Getting Younger... Must Prevent Youth Harm"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] As fraud crimes have surged significantly, the amount of damages last year alone exceeded 40 trillion won, but the amount recovered was only 1 trillion won.

According to data received on the 3rd from the National Police Agency by Lim Ho-seon, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, fraud cases increased by 28.9%, from 267,419 cases in 2018 to 344,847 cases last year.

Property damage caused by fraud crimes increased by 22.3%, from 32.96 trillion won to 40.31 trillion won during the same period. On the other hand, the amount recovered decreased by 72.0%, from 3.9192 trillion won to 1.0949 trillion won. Accordingly, the recovery rate of damages also dropped by about 9.2 percentage points, from 11.9% to 2.7%.

The type of fraud with the largest increase was 'computer-related fraud,' which rose more than threefold from 2,414 cases in 2018 to 7,381 cases last year. Computer-related fraud refers to crimes where information or unauthorized commands are input or information is input or altered without authorization through computers or similar devices to obtain financial benefits.

Im Ho-seon, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

By age group, victims under their 20s showed the largest increase. Victims under 20s rose by 52.9%, from 16,062 cases in 2018 to 24,561 cases in 2020. Victims aged 60 and above also increased by 42.6%, from 27,159 cases to 38,744 cases during the same period.

Along with the rise in fraud crimes, unsolved fraud cases also surged. Unsolved fraud cases increased by 55.9%, from 6,936 cases in 2018 to 10,812 cases in 2020.

Rep. Lim pointed out, "Although damages caused by fraud crimes are increasing significantly every year, follow-up measures for victims, such as recovery actions, are still insufficient." He added, "Especially, the fact that the age of victims is getting younger is a serious problem," emphasizing, "Thorough measures must be prepared so that young people in our society do not fall victim to fraud crimes."

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