'Impersonation' Phone Financial Fraud Surges...New Methods Using Remote Control Also Emerging

"Demanding Money to Resolve Crime Involvement"
Steadily Increasing Over 3 Months... Last Month's Damage Amount 14.8 Billion Won
Police Warn "Public Institutions Do Not Request Financial Information"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] It has been revealed that so-called 'institution impersonation' phone financial frauds, where perpetrators impersonate police, prosecutors, and Financial Supervisory Service employees, are rapidly increasing, prompting the police to urge special caution.

According to the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency on the 10th, institution impersonation phone financial fraud cases surged from 387 in September this year to 474 in October, and 702 last month. During the same period, the amount of damage also increased from 11.2 billion KRW to 13.5 billion KRW, and 14.8 billion KRW.

In contrast, the 'loan fraud' crimes, which had been the main method, showed little change. During the same period, loan fraud cases were recorded as 1,425 (damage amount 40.3 billion KRW), 1,407 (34.2 billion KRW), and 1,431 (40.8 billion KRW), respectively.

The National Investigation Headquarters analyzed, "As intensive crackdowns and blocks on bait messages and malicious apps used in loan fraud crimes have been implemented, institution impersonation frauds, which can be committed solely through phone calls with victims, appear to be relatively increasing."

Major cases include impersonating prosecutors and the Financial Supervisory Service to say, "Your deposit is involved in a crime, but if you entrust it to a Financial Supervisory Service employee, it will be protected," and embezzling 878 million KRW over 14 occasions. There was also a case where impersonating the police, they approached victims saying, "To clear suspicion of goods fraud, deliver money to a Financial Supervisory Service employee," and embezzled 520 million KRW.

In particular, recently, there have been continuous cases where victims were induced to install legitimate remote control apps (TeamViewer) under the pretext of checking whether their mobile phone or account is involved in a crime, and then deposits, stocks, and virtual asset sales proceeds under the victim's name were embezzled.

A police official stated, "Public institutions such as investigative agencies and the Financial Supervisory Service do not request financial or personal information over the phone, nor do they ask to install apps or request cash withdrawals, transfers, or safekeeping under the pretext of deposit protection." He added, "If you receive a call about being involved in a crime, do not panic, hang up, verify through the official number of the institution, and do not install remote control apps recommended by others."

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