As economic uncertainty has grown amid recent instability in the Middle East and the government is pushing policies to support corporations, the financial authorities on the 15th issued a consumer alert at the "caution" level as the likelihood increases that voice phishing crimes will exploit the situation.
The government is actively pursuing policies such as export voucher support, tax payment assistance, and loan maturity extensions to support corporations expected to be affected by the recent situation in the Middle East. However, voice phishing scams that impersonate government agencies or financial institutions to demand personal information or induce money transfers are expected to become rampant by exploiting these policies.
Voice phishing criminals often try to get people to click a link (URL) included in a text message. Clicking this link consolidations to a fake website impersonating a government agency or a financial company, and may require entering personal information such as resident registration numbers and addresses or submitting application documents such as a resident registration certificate or a business registration certificate. During this process, personal information can be stolen, and they may mislead victims by stealing government or bank logos or disguising content as something like "public notice in the name of the Minister of Trade and Industry (MOTI)."
In another case, the moment the L.I.N.C is clicked, a malicious app is automatically installed, which can leak personal information such as a mobile ID and contacts on the phone and lead to damage.
A common tactic is to prompt a call to the contact number listed in the text message. In this case, the scammer impersonates a customer service agent and may request personal information such as resident registration numbers, contact information, and addresses, claiming it is needed for accurate counseling. They also deceive victims by saying that existing loans must be repaid first to qualify for damage support or that a deposit is needed to raise a credit score, and then demand a money transfer.
To prevent such damage, the financial authorities presented several response guidelines. First, whether you applied for support programs related to the Middle East situation must be verified directly through the official website or main phone number of the relevant agency. This is because the customer service number or site address listed in a text message may have been created by scammers. Never click on text messages that include a URL from an unclear source.
It is also important to remember that government agencies or financial companies do not request the provision of personal information or money transfers by phone or text. Some financial companies may send texts such as maturity extension notices to existing customers, but they do not randomly send mass loan advertisement texts to an unspecified number of people. Therefore, if someone demands the provision of personal information or a remittance to repay existing loans under the pretense of a loan, you must refuse without exception.
If you have suffered voice phishing damage and sent money, you should immediately report it to the integrated reporting center of the Korean National Police Agency (112) and request a payment suspension on the relevant account. The faster the payment suspension request is made, the greater the likelihood of getting the funds back, so it is important to take action as soon as you become aware of the damage.