The number of voice phishing victims is increasing every year, and victims in their 20s in particular more than doubled. This is believed to be because customized scams targeting people in their 20s with little experience in social activities are rising quickly. Damage from schemes impersonating agencies such as the prosecution and the Financial Supervisory Service has increased roughly threefold.
According to data titled "Status of applications for relief from voice phishing damage by year over the past five years," which the Financial Supervisory Service submitted to the National Policy Committee on the 29th, the number of voice phishing cases in the first half of this year was 15,559, roughly matching last year's annual total of 18,791. The amount of damage in the first half was 340.7 billion won, similarly close to the total damage last year of 380.1 billion won. The number of cases and the amount of damage were calculated based on "primary fraud-use accounts," to which the funds remitted or transferred by victims were directly deposited.
Voice phishing tactics are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and the resulting damage is on the rise. In particular, young people in their 20s, who tend to have little direct or indirect experience with crimes such as fraud and thus are more likely to believe phishers' lies as they are, and who are lax in managing personal information, are becoming targets. According to data on victims by age group, the number of victims in their 20s increased from 895 in 2020 to 1,851 in 2023, more than doubling. Victims in their 20s totaled 1,355 last year and 869 in the first half of this year, remaining at a high level.
Those in their 50s and 60s, who had mainly been the targets of voice phishing crimes until recently, are seeing a decline in the number of victims. In particular, among those in their 50s, the number of victims fell from 6,379 in 2020 to 3,390 in 2023, nearly halving. In contrast, victims aged 70 and older increased from 673 in 2020 to 1,814 in 2022 and 1,318 in 2024, roughly two to three times higher. A financial authorities official said, "People in their 20s with little experience in social activities or seniors aged 70 and older who spend a lot of time alone may be vulnerable to the psychological pressure of phishers."
While "loan-disguised" voice phishing that used low interest rates or microfinance loans as bait had been rampant, more recently "agency-impersonation" crimes are increasing. The hallmark is stealing money by impersonating government agencies such as the prosecution, using a sophisticated script to thoroughly control and isolate victims. Cases of agency-impersonation damage rose from 2,252 cases (41.4 billion won) in 2020 to 4,627 cases (61.1 billion won) in 2023, 5,188 cases (206.3 billion won) in 2024, and 6,367 cases (260.3 billion won) in the first half of 2025, an increase of roughly threefold. In contrast, loan-disguised cases declined from 14,686 (156.6 billion won) in 2020 to 7,375 (147.5 billion won) last year and 4,054 (67.5 billion won) in the first half of this year.
The government has declared war on voice phishing and decided to enact a "no-fault liability compensation system" that would require financial companies to compensate part or all of the damage regardless of whether they were at fault. Financial companies such as banks are already compensating voluntarily based on standards such as the "criteria for sharing responsibility for non-face-to-face financial accidents," but critics say relief is not effective. This is because compensation is available only when a password is forged or altered, or when a third party directly remits or transfers money from the victim's account. Cases in which a voice phishing victim is deceived by a criminal into sending money directly are excluded from relief.