'SIM-BOX' Disguised as '010' Fuels Voice Phishing Surge Amid Government Oversight Gaps

Government Fails to Grasp Distribution Scale Despite Surge in Damages
Jo Incheol: "No Legal Grounds for Regulation... Legislative Improvements Urgently Needed"

Jo Incheol, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

As voice phishing crimes have recently surged again, the so-called "SIM-BOX," a caller ID spoofing relay device abused by overseas criminal organizations to disguise calls as domestic "010" numbers, has been identified as a key tool. Although the scale of damage continues to grow, there are concerns that the government has failed to properly monitor the distribution of these SIM-BOX devices, leaving a significant blind spot in management.

According to an analysis of audit data submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Police Agency to Assemblyman Jo Incheol (Gwangju Seo-gu Gap) of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 30th, voice phishing damages, which had been declining for a while, have sharply increased again since 2024. In particular, the average damage per victim in 2024 reached 41 million won, a surge of about 75% compared to the previous year, highlighting the severity of the problem. At the same time, the number of reported caller ID spoofing cases also soared from 29,000 in 2022 to 34,000 in 2023, and further to 59,000 in 2024.

The abuse of SIM-BOX devices is cited as the main driver behind this sharp increase. SIM-BOX is a device that disguises international calls as domestic mobile numbers starting with "010." This is a sophisticated tactic that exploits the tendency of Koreans to reject calls from international or "070" numbers, which are often recognized as spam. In June this year, the Gwangju Bukbu Police Station apprehended a domestic SIM-BOX management group linked to a Cambodian criminal syndicate, confirming the connection between overseas organizations and domestic distribution networks.

The problem is that SIM-BOX devices are designed with a simple structure, making them easy to hide in studio apartments, motels, vehicles, and even abandoned buildings or underground, which makes crackdowns difficult. The current enforcement system, which relies on receiving suspicious number location data from telecom companies and tracking them manually, makes it virtually impossible to detect illegal relay devices scattered nationwide in real time.

What is even more serious is the complete lack of legal grounds for regulating the entire process of importing and distributing SIM-BOX devices. While caller ID spoofing itself is illegal, there is no law that directly regulates the distribution or sale of SIM-BOX devices, resulting in a significant loophole in oversight. In fact, when Assemblyman Jo inquired with the Ministry of Science and ICT, the ministry responded that it "does not manage the distribution status of spoofing relay devices as separate statistics," revealing that the government lacks even basic information about the severity of the situation.

Assemblyman Jo stated, "While voice phishing damages are rapidly increasing, the government is unable to grasp even the scale of distribution for spoofing relay devices, which are a main cause." He emphasized, "Since the Voice Phishing Task Force of the Democratic Party of Korea and the government has set the prohibition of manufacturing, distribution, and use of illegal spoofing devices as a policy agenda, we will promptly push for legislative improvements."

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Jo is serving as secretary of the ruling party-government Voice Phishing Task Force and is currently working to advance legislative measures to eradicate voice phishing and protect victims.

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