"100% Profit Guarantee" "Recommended by Sampro TV"... These Are Financial Scams via Text and KakaoTalk

Korea Financial Consumer Protection Foundation Announces '2022 Financial Fraud Status Survey'
7 out of 10 Financial Frauds Involve Text Messages or KakaoTalk
Most Common Among 5060 Generation
High Proportion of Women

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] It has been revealed that 7 out of 10 financial fraud cases occur through text messages and KakaoTalk. Among the victims, 8 out of 10 were in their 50s and 60s, with a higher proportion of women.

The Korea Financial Consumer Protection Foundation announced that, according to the '2022 Financial Fraud Status Survey,' the most common exposure method to financial fraud (multiple responses allowed) was text messages and KakaoTalk (70.4%). This was followed by phone calls (38.7%), SNS (7.9%), and emails (5.8%).

When looking at the exposure rate to financial fraud by age group, those in their 50s (79.3%) and 60s (78.5%) were overwhelmingly higher. They were followed by those in their 40s (67.9%), 20s (60.5%), and 30s (60.4%).

Women, older age groups, and high-income earners experienced more exposure to financial fraud via text messages and KakaoTalk, while relatively highly educated individuals had more exposure through phone calls.

Among all survey respondents, 48.0% reported having been exposed to financial fraud in the past three years, regardless of whether they actually suffered damage, with an average exposure frequency of about 7.5 times.

The proportion of people who suffered financial damage due to financial fraud was only 3.3%. Including non-financial damages, the figure was 4.2%.

The average amount of damage was approximately 21.41 million KRW. The distribution was 22.6% for amounts between 1 million KRW and less than 10 million KRW, and 20.2% for amounts between 10 million KRW and less than 30 million KRW.

By age group, those in their 40s suffered the largest financial damage at 39.63 million KRW, followed by those in their 50s (24.75 million KRW), 60s (18.41 million KRW), 30s (17.75 million KRW), and 20s (12.95 million KRW).

Among those who suffered financial damage, only 25.8% fully recovered the lost amount. 54.5% did not recover any amount, and 19.7% recovered only partially.

Among financial fraud victims (including those with non-financial damages), 40.5% experienced economic difficulties, and 83.3% suffered psychological difficulties such as stress, loss of confidence, and persistent depression.

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