"Impersonating Public Officials to Induce Proxy Purchases"... About 5,000 Suspected New Phishing Accounts Flagged in One Month

Approximately 5,000 temporary account measures have been implemented in about a month since the introduction of the transaction suspension system for suspected new phishing accounts, data showed.

The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission announced on August 9 that 4,935 cases were reported as new phishing and subjected to temporary measures by financial institutions up to August 4.

This refers to cases where transactions were temporarily suspended before being classified under enhanced customer due diligence targets for temporary transaction suspension pursuant to the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.

Among them, financial institutions processed temporary transaction suspensions for 3,750 cases.

Subsequently, the FIU reviewed the necessity of transaction suspension for 1,065 cases and notified the financial institutions.

For the remaining cases where the FIU review has not yet been completed, financial institutions are maintaining the temporary transaction suspensions.

Since June 30 of last year, the FIU has been applying account transaction suspensions to new phishing cases disguised as "goods and services transactions," which are not covered by voice phishing crimes under the Special Act on Prevention of Losses from Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud and Refund for Losses.

Transactions can be temporarily suspended for 7 business days, and if necessary, for an additional 60 business days.

When a financial institution confirms a suspected new phishing account through a victim's report and police verification, it classifies the account as an enhanced customer due diligence target, executes a temporary transaction suspension, and reports the relevant details to the FIU.

The FIU reviews the appropriateness of maintaining the transaction suspension within 7 business days and notifies the financial institution of the results.

Ha Joo-shik, Director General for Institutional Operation at the FIU, stated, "Positive effects are emerging, such as the early interception of criminal funds from new phishing crimes following the implementation of the system," while adding, "As analysis of crime cases shows that damages from typical methods continue to occur, joint efforts must be made to prevent recurrence."

Among the types of temporary measures taken, romance scams accounted for the largest share with 1,527 cases (41%), followed by no-show scams (proxy purchase scams) with 1,376 cases (37%), and team mission scams with 847 cases (22%).

Romance scams involve building emotional bonds online by impersonating celebrities, professionals, or special military personnel, and then demanding money under the pretext of delivery customs clearance fees, airline tickets, or hospital bills. The FIU urged caution regarding non-face-to-face contacts and requests for deposits.

Recently, proxy purchase scams impersonating public institution employees have also been on the rise.

This method involves deceiving victims by claiming that if they purchase and supply specific goods through a city government official or university affiliate, the margin will be paid, and then inducing deposits into fake corporate accounts to misappropriate the money.

The FIU emphasized, "Thoroughly verify the identity of public institution employees and exercise extreme caution regarding phone calls received on mobile phones," adding, "Proxy purchase requests should be flatly refused as 100% no-show scams."

"Team mission scams" involve recruiting victims in group chat rooms and deceiving them into believing they can earn profits by performing missions such as writing reviews for free trial groups or watching videos, and then demanding deposits under the guise of investment funds or security deposits.

They also cause additional damage by claiming that a mission failure harmed the entire team and demanding extra funds or fees to withdraw profits.

The FIU emphasized that victims should not wire money and must report to the police immediately.

On August 7, the FIU held a "Meeting to Inspect the Transaction Suspension System for Suspected New Phishing Accounts" with officials from the Korean National Police Agency, the Financial Supervisory Service, and financial sector associations.

The FIU plans to reflect the discussions from the meeting into operational guidelines and strengthen its processing capacity by reinforcing dedicated personnel.

In addition, the FIU plans to revise the Specified Financial Information Act to establish clear legal grounds for the transaction suspension system, while actively promoting damage prevention public awareness activities in cooperation with relevant ministries.

(Photo: Screenshot of the Financial Intelligence Unit website, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.