Jeju Police Report 10.2 Billion Won in Voice Phishing Losses Last Year... 20% Increase from Previous Year

Published 22 Feb.2022 10:50(KST)

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] The Jeju Police Agency recently held an urgent issue meeting attended by related functions such as investigation, criminal affairs, and 112 to eradicate voice phishing crime damage in the region, checking the current status and discussing countermeasures.

According to the Jeju Police Agency on the 22nd, last year, a total of 514 voice phishing crimes occurred in the Jeju area, with damages amounting to about 10.2 billion KRW, increasing by 8.4% and 20% respectively compared to the previous year.

In the past, the main method was the ‘account transfer type,’ where victims were tricked into transferring money to accounts by impersonating financial institutions, but recently, the ‘face-to-face extortion type,’ where victims withdraw cash and deliver it directly, has become predominant.

In particular, in Jeju, face-to-face extortion crimes, which occurred 98 times in 2020, increased significantly by 196% to 290 cases in 2022.

Also, crimes disguised as loans, such as offering to change loans to low-interest rates, account for 80.5% of the total.

Phishing crimes that impersonate family members to induce remittances via text messages or steal payment information such as credit cards and IDs to embezzle funds continue to occur, making the livelihood of ordinary people even more difficult.

The police have established a ‘Comprehensive Plan to Eradicate Telephone Financial Fraud’ that organically links prevention publicity, investigation, and arrest activities in line with the changed crime trends, and decided to focus related capabilities.

In collaboration with local media and using online media, they plan to continuously introduce crime methods and prevention rules to various resident organizations and police cooperation groups to raise residents’ awareness.

They will reorganize the reporting system linked with financial institutions at the forefront of crime damage sites and share damage and prevention cases, and also carry out preventive activities such as flexible patrols around ATMs during vulnerable times.

A Jeju police official said, “We ask for the voluntary participation and support of local residents in efforts to make Jeju free of voice phishing crimes,” adding, “Since it is difficult to recover once damage occurs due to the nature of voice phishing crimes, prevention is most important.”

He added, “We plan to activate the arrest reward system for people who help catch criminals, such as ordinary residents or financial institution workers, to encourage active reporting.”