HuHu, Q2 Spam Statistics Released... Surge in 'Insurance Subscription Solicitation'

Total Spam 5.95 Million... 390,000 Decrease Compared to Previous Quarter

VP, the company providing the spam blocking application 'WhoWho', announced the spam statistics reported by WhoWho users for the second quarter of this year on the 25th. The total number of spam cases was 5.95 million, showing a decrease of 390,000 cases compared to the previous quarter.

The most frequently reported spam type was related to ‘stocks and investments’, recording 2.49 million cases (41.8%). This was followed by ‘illegal games and entertainment establishments’ with 1.08 million cases (18.0%), ‘loan solicitations’ with 990,000 cases (16.7%), ‘voice phishing’ with 290,000 cases (4.8%), and ‘insurance subscription solicitations’ with 230,000 cases (3.9%).

Spam Statistics for Q2 2023
Photo by VP

The company explained that although spam related to ‘stocks and investments’ still accounted for the highest proportion following the previous quarter, it decreased by 28% compared to the same period last year and by 7.4% compared to the previous quarter, reflecting the weakened investment sentiment due to recent stock investment scams. Spam of the ‘illegal games and entertainment establishments’ type decreased by 12.3% compared to the previous quarter, which is interpreted as an effect of the government’s recent measures to eradicate illegal gambling, including the establishment of regulations prohibiting casino-like activities and strengthened crackdowns.

While the total number of spam reports decreased, showing a slight decline across all types, spam related to ‘insurance subscription solicitations’ unusually surged by 20.9% compared to the previous quarter. This type of report occurs not only in cases of secondary damage where leaked or stolen personal information is misused but also when users agree to receive marketing messages without clearly understanding the details during service subscription or membership registration processes.

If you suspect personal information leakage, you can use the Korea Internet & Security Agency’s ‘Find My Leaked Information’ service to check whether your information has been leaked. If it has, you can immediately prevent further damage by deleting or modifying your personal information. If you are experiencing inconvenience due to unwanted insurance consultation or subscription solicitation calls, you can request the withdrawal of previously agreed personal credit information provision through the financial company’s website, email, or branch visit.

Although the government continues efforts such as revising related laws and strengthening penalties to combat illegal spam, it is difficult to completely block damage, so users’ own efforts are also important. The company explained that by using the spam call notification and suspicious URL detection services provided in the WhoWho app, users can check in real time whether a call is spam or whether a URL in a text message is risky, helping to prevent damage in advance.

VP stated, “If you receive a call from an unknown number and confirm it as spam, you can prevent secondary damage by simply clicking to report the spam information,” and added, “WhoWho will take the lead in preventing spam damage based on accumulated report data.”

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