"Government Support and Low-Income Financial Services Fraudulent Advertising Warning" Consumer Alert Issued

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a consumer alert on the 19th, stating that illegal advertisements impersonating government-supported or low-income financial services are on the rise.

According to the FSS, from the 1st to the 9th of last month, the Illegal Private Finance Damage Report Center received 132 consultations related to damages involving terms such as "low-income finance" and "debt consolidation." Additionally, the proportion of damage cases impersonating refinancing loans among voice phishing damage relief applications increased to 7.8% from January to May this year, up 3.9 percentage points from 3.9% during the same period last year.

Types of illegal advertisements included using business names similar to the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency or phrases like "government-supported loans," causing confusion with official websites operated by government or public institutions. Other examples emphasized phrases such as "low-interest debt consolidation support," "refinancing loans," and "minimum interest rate 4.9%" to advertise as if handling low-interest financial products for low-income individuals, or included statements like "worker financial support benefits" and "2023 temporary support guide" to lure loan applicants and induce them to enter personal information.

The FSS also revealed that such illegal advertisements have led to cases involving high-interest loans, loan fraud, or illegal fee extortion.

The FSS plans to conduct inspections of online and offline illegal advertisements impersonating government-supported low-income financial products in cooperation with the Korea Credit Finance Association, and will request suspension of phone numbers and blocking of online posts when illegal loan advertisements by unregistered operators are detected.

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