Voice Phishing Targeting Insurance Loans... Strong Response Urged from Insurance Companies

Transfer to Suspicious Loan Account 'Financial Fraud'
Mandatory Recommendation for Payment Suspension and Transaction Restrictions

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[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Financial authorities have recommended that insurance companies have an obligation to take measures such as payment suspension or transaction restrictions when insurance contract (policy) loan funds are transferred to fraudulent accounts due to voice phishing.

As cases of funds being intercepted through various methods like messenger phishing increase, there is a call for financial companies to take proactive measures.

According to the insurance industry on the 10th, recently financial authorities issued this legal interpretation regarding the responsibility of financial companies to prevent damage under the "Special Act on the Prevention of Telecommunications Financial Fraud and Refund of Damaged Funds (Telecommunications Fraud Damage Refund Act)".

Under Article 2, Clause 2 of the current Telecommunications Fraud Damage Refund Act, if a policy loan is taken out in the victim's own name account, telecommunications financial fraud is not established. This is because telecommunications financial fraud is defined as acts of deceiving or threatening others via telecommunications to remit or transfer money, or obtaining personal information to remit or transfer funds.

However, financial authorities judged that if a policy loan is taken out in the victim's name account and the loan funds are transferred to a fraud-use account, it should be considered financial fraud. Accordingly, they interpreted that insurance companies must take measures such as payment suspension and electronic financial transaction restrictions on the fraud-use account holder.

Status of Damage Amounts by Voice Phishing Types (Source: Financial Supervisory Service)

This is a measure in response to the recent evolution of voice phishing. Although the overall damage from voice phishing is decreasing, messenger phishing, which impersonates family or acquaintances, is rapidly increasing.

Fraudsters impersonate family members via messenger, requesting financial transaction information such as ID cards, account numbers, and passwords, or induce victims to install malicious applications (apps) to steal personal information. Using the leaked personal information, they create new burner phones under the perpetrator's name, open financial accounts, and withdraw money.

In particular, in the case of insurance policyholders, most cases involve taking out insurance policy loans in the victim's name from the insurance company and then transferring the funds to their own accounts. This not only results in the loss of held financial assets but also often causes victims to bear large loans.

In the first half of this year, the total damage from voice phishing was 84.5 billion KRW, a 46% decrease compared to the same period last year, while damage from messenger phishing surged by 165% to 46.6 billion KRW. Meanwhile, damage from major fraud types such as impersonating institutions or loan fraud decreased by 81% and 70% respectively to 6.3 billion KRW and 31.6 billion KRW compared to the same period last year.

A financial authority official explained, "Messenger phishing involves stealing personal information and conducting financial transactions without the victim's knowledge, so the role of financial institutions in response is important," adding, "It is necessary to strengthen identity verification measures when canceling deposits or insurance or applying for loans."

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