"Transfer Money and Get a Loan"... Illegal Bank Account Sales Ads Surge 210% in One Year

Cases of Various Illegal Loan Advertisements Detected. Photo by Financial Supervisory Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Mr. A recently conducted a non-face-to-face loan consultation with a person claiming to be a banker in order to borrow money. Mr. A was instructed that to borrow money, transaction performance was required, so he was told to deposit 2 million won into his account and then transfer it to another designated account. The person who consulted on the loan was an illegal financial operator impersonating a banker, and the funds were proceeds from a voice phishing scam. Mr. A's account was subjected to a payment suspension order, and he is currently under investigation at the police station.

Mr. B received a text message offering full support for the annual fee upon card issuance and 500,000 won in cash, and contacted the enclosed number. The scammer impersonating a card recruiter claimed that a credit card usage limit inquiry was necessary and extracted the victim's check card information. Following the scammer's instructions, Mr. B was told to deposit 20 million won received into another account, and after completing the transfer, the scammer cut off contact. Subsequently, the scammer took out a 5 million won card loan under Mr. B's name and fled.

On the 15th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a consumer alert regarding illegal financial advertisements. This was due to the continuous increase in illegal financial advertisements such as online account trading, "Jak-eop" loans, and personal credit information trading, raising concerns about consumer damage. The FSS advised that there is a high risk of exposure to various crimes and that victims may also be subject to criminal punishment, urging special caution.

From January to last month, the FSS requested the Korea Communications Standards Commission to delete or block a total of 11,116 online illegal financial advertisements. This is an increase of 321 cases from 10,795 during the same period last year. Illegal loan advertisements, which account for the largest share, decreased by 2,300 cases (25.7%) from 6,377 to 4,077 due to large-scale crackdowns, but account trading surged by 1,944 cases (210.8%) from 563 to 2,507. "Jak-eop" loans and personal credit information trading also increased by 434 cases (70.8%) and 568 cases (21.0%), respectively.

The most rapidly increasing "account trading" refers to all acts of transferring or receiving various financial access media (cash, check cards, etc.), demanding, requesting, or promising compensation, and lending, storing, delivering, or distributing accounts. If accounts are transferred, not only illegal operators but also the transferor (victim) can be subject to criminal punishment. Advertisements claim that accounts will not be used for voice phishing or gambling, but most are abused as means of crime.

Typically, account trading advertisements target the general public indiscriminately, announcing the sale or rental of personal or corporate accounts. In sales, payments can vary from 100,000 to 2 million won per case, and in rentals, monthly rental fees are promised. Some advertisements also claim to purchase cash (check) cards, security cards, OTPs, etc.

"Jak-eop" loans involve deceiving financial companies into executing loans by falsifying documents containing loan applicant information such as income certificates, employment certificates, and account transaction details. This is a clear fraudulent act, and "Jak-eop" loan operators demand 30% to 50% of the loan amount as a fee. Since the loan applicant generates a loan amount exceeding the actual desired amount, the economic burden increases. Personal information is also used for crimes.

Crimes involving trading of personal credit information collected through hacking or other means should also be noted. If personal information is transferred, there is a high possibility that one's information will be used for illegal loan advertisement messages or spam texts.

The FSS plans to eradicate illegal financial advertisement damage that causes harm to vulnerable groups. The FSS stated, "Through the government-wide task force to eradicate illegal private finance, we will actively cooperate with related agencies to promptly block illegal financial advertisements and request investigations into illegal financial activities," and added, "If new illegal financial behaviors are identified, we will promptly issue consumer alerts to disseminate precautions and countermeasures, doing our utmost to prevent damage from illegal private finance."

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