A installed a malicious (remote control) application based on a phone call and text message indicating that a card had been delivered without A's application. The voice phishing gang used A's personal information, obtained through the app, to open deposits for non-face-to-face accounts and used them as dummy bank accounts.
B contacted a scammer impersonating B's son and, after pressing a text link, B's personal information was stolen through the malicious app that was installed. The scammer used the stolen information to open a low-cost mobile phone account, then completed identity verification using a forged identification card, secretly opening an account at an internet bank to extort tens of millions of won from B.
Financial authorities will implement a 'non-face-to-face account opening safe blocking' service starting on the 12th to prevent voice phishing damage. This measure aims to prevent non-face-to-face account openings from being conducted unknowingly with personal information stolen through malicious app installations, as seen in the cases of A and B.
By applying for this service, individuals can preemptively prevent unwanted current accounts from being newly opened non-face-to-face. The moment of registration, the safe blocking information is recorded with the Korea Credit Information Service, and transactions for new current account openings in the financial sector are blocked in real-time. A total of 3,613 companies, including banks, savings banks, mutual finance, and Korea Post, participated.
To apply for the service, individuals can visit their current financial company directly or use non-face-to-face channels with banks and the Financial Settlement Service (Account Info). If one wishes to conduct new current account receiving transactions after registering, they can easily deactivate the service by visiting a nearby financial company branch. After deactivation, it will be possible to immediately open a current account.
Kim So-young, vice chairwoman of the Financial Services Commission, attended a meeting on the implementation of the non-face-to-face account opening safe blocking service held at the headquarters of Shinhan Bank and noted, "We will continue discussions with related agencies and the financial sector to expand the scope of safe blocking to open banking as soon as possible." Lee Bok-hyun, the head of the FSS, remarked, "The government and the financial sector must join forces to vigorously respond to financial crimes," and urged that the non-face-to-face financial transaction safe blocking service should play a strong safety net role in protecting financial consumers.
Meanwhile, the financial authorities have been implementing the 'loan transaction safe blocking' service since last year to respond to the spread of voice phishing crimes. When a user applies for the loan transaction safe blocking service, the safe blocking information is registered with the Korea Credit Information Service, and new loan transactions such as credit loans and card loans in the financial sector are blocked in real-time. About 310,000 people have registered in just seven months since its launch, and the number of inquiries into the credit information of service subscribers by banks through the credit information agency averages 10,000 per month.