Mobile Carriers Preemptively Block "International Call" Voice Phishing Scams

Changing numbers similar to family or acquaintances' phone numbers to cause harm
Telecom companies must provide voice guidance before connecting calls

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Recently, Mr. A (56) received a phone call on his daughter's number. From the phone came a desperate voice saying, "A friend borrowed money from a private lender, and I stood as a guarantor, but I was taken to a place like a warehouse." Soon after, a man took over the call and threatened, "If your father pays 35 million won on my behalf, I will send her home immediately." Alarmed, Mr. A rushed to the bank to send the money. Meanwhile, the police, who arrived following his wife's report, informed him that it was a voice phishing scam and prevented the damage.

A new type of voice phishing that uses stolen personal information to change phone numbers similar to those of family and acquaintances is rampant. Voice phishing organizations are based overseas, including in China, and deceive victims by using international calls with falsified caller IDs. Voice phishing is an illegal act of extracting personal financial information and using it for criminal purposes. The term is a compound of voice, private data, and fishing.

To reduce victims like Mr. Kim, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 11th that it will revise the "Notification on Prevention of User Damage Caused by Falsely Displayed Phone Numbers." According to the existing Telecommunications Business Act, mobile carriers must display a message indicating that the SMS is an international call when providing the sender's number containing the international call identification number or 009 (the international call identification number for special telecommunications carriers). With this revision, mobile carriers will also have to provide a voice announcement saying "This is an international call" before connecting the call to the user. This will be implemented within the first half of this year. A Ministry of Science and ICT official explained, "Once telecom companies complete the technology development, the service will be available."

Previously, the Ministry of Science and ICT worked with mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung and Apple to fix the issue where a saved contact name would appear even if only part of the phone number matched. Now, the saved name will only appear if all eight digits of the phone number match. Additionally, manufacturers were instructed to display "International Call" in Korean when calls come from overseas.

The use of manipulated relay devices that alter caller numbers will also be blocked. The National Police Agency explained that manipulated relay devices are used more frequently with mobile phones than with SIM boxes. From August to October last year, a special crackdown by the National Police Agency resulted in the detection of 20,030 burner phones and 5,231 manipulated relay devices. The number of burner phones detected was similar to the same period last year, but detections of manipulated relay devices increased by 2,624%.

To prevent mass activation of burner phones, mobile carriers restrict new phone activations for a certain period for subscribers with a history of illegal activities such as burner phones and voice phishing. Among the activation rates of burner phones, MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) account for 70%, and the use rate of prepaid SIM cards is 63%. A safety mark display service is also provided to help recipients easily verify messages sent by financial public institutions.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to establish a "Validity Verification System" this year. The "Validity Verification System" is a system that can verify the actual owner of a phone number when registering the sender's number.

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