Year-End Health Checkup Surge Fuels 'Smishing' Attacks... "Avoid Clicking Unclear URLs"

As the year-end approaches, many people are seeking health checkups. During periods of high demand for health screenings, smishing texts impersonating the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) also surge, requiring special caution.

According to the NHIS on the 23rd, a common smishing tactic involves text messages containing phrases like "National Health Screening Notification - Check Details" or "You are eligible for a free health screening," which include internet addresses (URLs) that link to fraudulent websites. An NHIS official stated, “Recently, attempts to smish using the NHIS main phone number have also increased, raising concerns about significant damage.”

The NHIS does not provide health screening results via text messages. Even when notifying those who have missed screenings, they are advised to verify information through the official NHIS website.

Even if a text message appears to come from the official NHIS number, if it contains an unclear URL, it should be considered suspicious and not accessed.

If you receive a text suspected of being a scam, do not access it; delete it immediately and report it to the Korea Internet & Security Agency’s Illegal Spam Response Center.

The NHIS emphasized, “To prevent public harm caused by smishing, we will continue prevention activities by sharing smishing cases and safety guidelines through our website, Facebook, Twitter, blog, and other SNS platforms.”

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