'Where Did My Information Leak?' Police Requested to Investigate Surge in Spam Text Messages

In response to the recent series of spam text message incidents, civic groups have urged the police to investigate the senders and transmission routes of these messages.

Some spam messages reported to the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy's Livelihood Hope Headquarters. [Photo provided by People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy]

On the 20th, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy's Livelihood Hope Headquarters and the Livelihood Economy Research Institute held a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul, announcing that they have requested a police investigation into unidentified key perpetrators of illegal spam text message sending and reported the matter to the Korea Communications Commission.

They stated, "Spam text messages related to stock investment, impersonation of public institutions, and loan solicitations have surged recently, and there have been numerous reports of receiving up to 10 or more spam messages per day within a month. Citizens are anxious about whether their personal information has been illegally leaked, when and where it was leaked, and whether their personal data is being used for other crimes."

They also added, "According to the status of mobile phone spam reports and detections submitted to the Korea Communications Commission, there have been a total of 168,620,079 cases over five months, already exceeding half of last year's total reports, and showing an increasing trend since January this year. According to a Korea Internet & Security Agency investigation, there were reports that dozens of subcontractors who send mass messages for payment were hacked, but it is questionable whether this alone could cause the entire population to be intensively exposed to spam messages."

Finally, they emphasized, "Most of the recent spam messages are sent from mobile phone numbers starting with 010, and upon verification, many of these sending numbers were found to be stolen. Considering this, it is highly likely that the individuals sending spam also obtained personal information through illegal means, so an investigation into this matter must be conducted."

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