Even Doctors Were Deceived... 4 Billion Lost Due to Fake Prosecutor's Warrant

Sharp Increase in Phone Financial Fraud Impersonating Prosecutors and Financial Supervisory Service
Beware of Warrants and Official Documents Sent via Text Messages as Potential Scams

As phone financial fraud (voice phishing) impersonating the prosecution or the Financial Supervisory Service has sharply increased recently, the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters has issued a warning.

[Photo by Pixabay]

According to the police on the 5th, Dr. A, in his 40s, lost 4 billion won last year due to a scammer who pretended to be a prosecutor from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. The scammer sent a detention warrant via messenger, claiming that Dr. A's account was used for criminal proceeds laundering. Believing that cooperating with the investigation would result in a summary investigation, Dr. A clicked on the link sent through the messenger and installed an application.

Later, Dr. A also called the Financial Supervisory Service to verify, and was told that his account was indeed used for money laundering. This was because the application he installed was designed so that any call to the police, prosecution, or Financial Supervisory Service would be connected to the scammer.

Ultimately, Dr. A was deceived by the scammer impersonating a prosecutor and handed over 4 billion won, which he had prepared through deposits, insurance, stocks, and even bank loans, to the gang. Although the gang was caught through police investigation, it is reported that Dr. A's 4 billion won had already been transferred overseas and cannot be recovered.

61.3% of Phone Financial Fraud Victims Impersonated Institutions... How to Prevent?

Official document used in institutional impersonation phone financial fraud
Photo by National Police Agency

The police revealed that out of 7,363 phone financial fraud cases reported until May this year, 4,515 cases (61.3%) involved impersonation of institutions. They also advised that anyone can fall victim to scams using cutting-edge communication technology like in Dr. A's case, so it is important to familiarize oneself with the methods of these crimes in advance.

According to a National Police Agency official, to prevent phone financial fraud, one should not click on bait messages containing internet addresses. Caution is also needed against malicious applications that intercept all incoming and outgoing calls of the victim.

If the scammer pressures for cooperation by mentioning detention investigations or insists that you must not tell anyone around you, it is highly likely to be phone financial fraud, so vigilance is necessary. Also, investigative agencies never send warrants or official documents via text messages, so all calls and messages should be considered potentially criminal.

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