Telecom Employee's Quick Thinking Saves Elderly Couple from 60 Million Won Voice Phishing Scam

An elderly couple in their 70s narrowly avoided losing 60 million won to a voice phishing scheme, thanks to the quick thinking of a telecom store employee who stopped them from removing their SIM cards as instructed by scammers.

According to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency on Friday (June 19), a person in their 70s, identified as A, visited an SK Telecom store in Jeju City on June 12 to have their SIM card removed after being told by a voice phisher impersonating a bank employee that they could receive a "low-interest refinancing loan."

The store manager, surnamed Joo, who assisted A, became suspicious of voice phishing when A explained that they were removing the SIM card because "a loan consultant told me to."

Manager Joo checked A's mobile phone and discovered a malicious application impersonating a bank along with chat logs with the phisher. After confirming that A's spouse had also been deceived by the same method, the manager reported the incident to the police.

The police stated that this swift action prevented the couple from suffering a financial loss of approximately 60 million won.

This case marks the first instance of fraud prevention since the Jeju Provincial Police Agency and SK Telecom signed a memorandum of understanding in May to cooperate on voice phishing prevention, designating 44 stores across the province as "Voice Phishing Prevention Stores."

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency awarded a certificate of appreciation to Manager Joo today.

(Photo: Provided by Jeju Provincial Police Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.