[비즈한국] The long Chuseok holiday has begun. As people exchange warm greetings after a long time during the holiday, caution is required. This is because the period around the holidays is when voice phishing and smishing (SMS + phishing) crimes are rampant. Unlike in the past, crimes have become more sophisticated by abusing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, making anyone, regardless of age or occupation, a potential target. Research findings also show that while the number of voice phishing incidents during the Chuseok holiday has decreased, the financial loss per incident has actually increased.
Over the past five years, the number of voice phishing cases during the holiday period including Chuseok has decreased, but the total financial damage has surged. In particular, the average damage per incident has increased, which is interpreted as a result of the increasingly sophisticated and intelligent nature of voice phishing techniques, which leverage AI technology or combine it with illegal data trading.
According to data on the "Status of Voice Phishing Damages During Holiday Periods (September-October) from 2020 to 2024" received by Rep. Kim Hyun-jung of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee, from the Financial Supervisory Service on October 4, there were 17,493 cases of voice phishing during Chuseok periods over the past five years, with total damages amounting to 173.9 billion won.
While voice phishing damages in September and October, when the holidays fall, have steadily declined since 2021, the total amount of damages actually increased in 2024. The number of cases was 2,453 in 2020 and 4,677 in 2021, before falling to 4,084 in 2022, 3,147 in 2023, and 3,132 in 2024.
Conversely, the total financial damage decreased from 23.7 billion won in 2020 to 22.8 billion won in 2021 and 22.3 billion won in 2022, before turning to an upward trend to 34.8 billion won in 2023. In 2024, it reached 70.3 billion won, a 102% increase compared to the previous year. Consequently, the average damage per criminal incident also rose. The average damage per case, which was approximately 4.87 million won in 2021, increased significantly to approximately 22.44 million won in 2024.
Rep. Kim Hyun-jung pointed out, "Voice phishing techniques are evolving rapidly, making anyone a potential victim," and added, "Beyond raising individual awareness for damage prevention, we must legislate plans to promptly compensate for damages regardless of the financial institution's negligence and impose strong accountability."
Government agencies have also urged citizens to prevent telecommunications financial fraud during the holiday season. The Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, Ministry of Science and ICT, National Police Agency, Korea Communications Commission, and Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) issued warnings against smishing techniques that extort money through texts such as "traffic violation penalty notices," "illegal trash dumping fine inquiries," and "impersonation of shopping malls for holiday gift purchases." These techniques exploit situations where traffic volume increases and food waste disposal grows before and after the holidays. Recently, scam texts exploiting the distribution of the second round of public livelihood recovery consumer coupons have also emerged.
These agencies pointed out, "They are exploiting situations where citizens, excited about visiting their hometowns, can be easily deceived," and noted that special caution is required as a large volume of smishing texts impersonating government or local municipalities regarding fines and penalties may be distributed.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and KISA will operate a 24-hour detection system during the Chuseok holiday to respond to text scams. The three major mobile carriers (SKT, KT, LG U+) are cooperating with the Korea Communications Commission to send out smishing caution texts starting September 22. The Korea Internet & Security Agency's 118 Counseling Center provides 24-hour free consultations if fraud is suspected.
The financial sector has also stepped up to prevent fraud during the holidays. KakaoBank323410 has provided financial fraud prevention tips on its content service 'Stories That Make Money,' including: always verifying money transfer requests from family or acquaintances via phone call, and utilizing fraud prevention services such as transaction notifications and delayed transfers. Additionally, it will monitor financial transactions 24 hours a day through its Fraud Detection System (FDS) during the holidays and keep dedicated financial fraud response personnel on standby.
Toss Bank is also operating its customer service center 24 hours a day throughout the holiday via landline, in-app chat, and KakaoTalk consultations. In addition to general inquiries, reports of financial fraud can be made in real-time.