Voice Phishing Losses Total 774.4 Billion Won in One Year... "Let's Establish a National Fraud Information Analysis Agency"

KOFAC Online Forum, Professor Seo Jun-bae of Police University Claims

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] As voice phishing damages steadily increase to around 700 billion KRW annually, there have been calls to establish a comprehensive inter-ministerial agency for proactive response.

According to the Korea Federation of Science and Technology Societies on the 24th, Professor Seo Jun-bae of the Korean National Police University cited police statistics at the National Life Science and Technology Forum held on the 17th, urging the need for comprehensive and proactive national measures as voice phishing damages continue to rise every year.

Voice phishing damages were 37,667 cases (639.8 billion KRW) in 2019, 31,681 cases (700 billion KRW) in 2020, and 30,982 cases (774.4 billion KRW) in 2021. While the number of cases slightly decreased, the amount of damage has surged. The majority, about 80% annually, are ‘loan fraud type’ scams where perpetrators impersonate financial institutions and extort money by promising to extend loans. Recently, the ‘face-to-face extortion type,’ which lures victims to financial institutions and demands they withdraw and hand over money directly, has become prevalent. The remaining approximately 20% are ‘institution impersonation type’ scams, where perpetrators impersonate agencies such as the Prosecutor’s Office or police cybercrime investigation units to demand money transfers.

Although it might seem that women or the elderly are the main victims, the reality is different. The gender distribution of victims is similar, with males at 52% and females at 48%. By age group, economically active individuals in their 50s (33%) and 40s (27%) are the most affected, followed by those in their 60s (16%), 30s (15%), 20s (7%), and 70s (2%). By type, institution impersonation scams tend to target women and younger people in their 20s and 30s, while loan extension frauds more often victimize men in their 40s and 50s.

Voice phishing scammers are based overseas and continuously evolve, making eradication difficult. Initially, they impersonated the National Tax Service for tax refunds, but later developed into institution impersonation scams such as the Prosecutor’s Office, refinancing loan scams by financial institutions, and recently, methods involving impersonating family or acquaintances on social networking services (SNS) like KakaoTalk to extort money.

Professor Seo pointed out the need to establish a national control tower for comprehensive and proactive prevention, similar to the UK government’s ‘Fraud Crime Analysis Center.’ He said, "A National Fraud Information Analysis Bureau should be created to proactively track and block phone numbers and financial accounts used in scams." He added, "The police cannot handle this alone; victim protection agencies, information and communication companies, financial institutions, and government ministries must collaborate. Strengthening education to widely inform the public about scam methods is also essential to eradicate the problem."

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