"Refund of Support Funds is Painful Enough, Now Phishing Too"…Small Business Owners Boiling Mad

Ministry of SMEs Starts Recovery of Overpaid Quarantine Support Funds
Self-Employed Worried About Being Subject to Recovery
Small Business Owners Say "Why Was It Paid in the First Place?"
Messenger Phishing for 'Use Debt Restructuring Loans' Also Rampant

A clothing wholesale market in Dongdaemun, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungseop Song, Minjae Kwak] As the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has begun the recovery process for the quarantine support fund, a policy to support small business owners affected by COVID-19, complaints are emerging among self-employed workers. Although recovery is only carried out in cases of overpayment, there is dissatisfaction that if the system had been designed more precisely from the start, the payments should not have been made. As small business owners worried about having to return the support funds increase, messenger phishing targeting them is also rampant.

On the 8th, on a small business community used by about one million people, various complaints were posted continuously from the day before the quarantine support fund recovery began. Most posts questioned how money could be paid to those who were not eligible, with many expressing sentiments like "given and then taken back."

An individual business owner, Mr. A, said, "If there were cases of fraudulent receipt or incorrect payments, it is right to recover the funds," but also criticized, "The fact that money was paid to people who were not eligible in the first place means the government did not operate properly." Mr. B wrote, "It would have been better if they had thoroughly filtered out ineligible recipients before making payments."

There were also strong concerns about having to return the quarantine support funds. Since the funds were disbursed during the COVID-19 period, most have already been spent. Mr. C said, "The support funds have already been completely used up, so I am very worried about the recovery," and added, "If I am notified that I have to return the funds, I don't know where I would get the money to pay." Among some small business owners, there were even claims that if the criteria for sales decline are ambiguous and cause anxiety, it would be better not to accept any government money at all.

"If you are subject to recovery but are told to get a refinancing loan"… This is 100% phishing

The quarantine support fund is a government program to support small business owners whose sales decreased due to COVID-19. The first round of support funds was paid at 1 million won each starting December 27 last year, and the second round was paid at 3 million won each starting February 23 this year. If sales did not decrease or other conditions were not met, the recipient becomes subject to recovery measures.

So far, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been investigating whether there were any incorrect payments during the disbursement of the first and second rounds of the quarantine support funds and has identified 3,831 suspicious cases. From the day before, pre-notification for recovery was also carried out for the targeted small business owners. After submitting opinions and filing objections, if overpayment is finally confirmed, the support funds must be returned.

Meanwhile, phishing text messages claiming that the first and second round quarantine support funds were incorrectly paid and that the funds will be recovered are circulating among small business owners. The messages include offers to refinance the recovery amount with policy financial products at low interest rates (1.0~3.5%). They also explain that these loans can be obtained online from commercial banks, with amounts ranging from a minimum of 5 million won to a maximum of 200 million won per company.

The Financial Supervisory Service advises never to click on links from unknown sources under any circumstances and to refuse any requests for personal information or fund transfers. Especially, messages related to policy support funds do not contain any links or URLs. If you realize that your personal information has been leaked late, immediately register with the accident prevention system and check whether an account has been opened using your identity. If you suspect impersonation messages, report them to the Illegal Spam Reporting Center (118), the police (112), or the Financial Supervisory Service (1332).

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