“Create a fraudulent banking app and intercept the call to the customer center”… Voice phishing is evolving

Enter 2021.03.17 06:00

“You can get a low-interest loan loan with government subsidies. Instead, you must install the bank app we sent, enter your personal information, and pay back the loan you received in cash.”

In October of last year, victim A was deceived by the words of a voice phishing member B, who pretended to be an employee of the Financial Supervisory Service, and withdrew 16.5 million won and sent it to B. Another victim, C, received a fake loan consultation call from a voice phishing gang member last January, and was deceived by saying, “If you repay the existing loan, you can get a better loan,” he remitted 18 million won. Both cases are actual cases of voice phishing victims disguised as government-sponsored loan products that the police recently revealed.

As the recession continues after the coronavirus outbreak, voice phishing crimes targeting people in economic hardship are on the rise. There are many stories that voice phishing techniques are evolving in various ways, such as creating fake banking apps, hacking mobile phones and intercepting the bank’s representative phone.

According to the National Police Agency on the 16th, 2177 people were arrested for voice phishing last year, an increase of about 44% compared to 2019 (1513). The amount of damage caused by voice phishing crimes also increased significantly. Last year, the crime damage amounted to 760 billion won, a 504% increase from the previous year. It was a record high.

The method of voice phishing criminal groups has become more sophisticated and has evolved in a way that makes use of people’s psychology subtly. In particular, analysis shows that last year, the number of voice phishing victims rapidly increased, using the desperate sentiment of people in economic hardship due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The police explained that the recent method of voice phishing is characterized by hacking mobile phones and organized’team play’. For example, in the case of a voice phishing crime using a low-interest loan as a bait, a counselor who guides the installation of a hacking bank app while guiding the loan product, an employee pretending to be an employee of the bank’s debt collection team and financial supervisory service, and handing cash directly and delivering a payment receipt. At least 4 people, including members of the organization, are needed

First of all, the voice phishing criminal organization sends a text message to an unspecified number of people stating that low-interest loan loans are possible. When people who are desperate because of a loan blockage among those who receive a text call call, a voice phishing gang member who pretended to be a counselor sends a fake link saying that he must fill out a loan document after installing a banking app.

The problem starts here. The moment you install a fake banking app, your phone is hacked and all communications are eavesdropped. If a victim is suspicious and calls the customer center of the bank, the voice phishing gang member intercepts the phone and receives it instead, so the suspicious victims often immediately believe what the gang members say.

In the case of a recently caught voice phishing criminal organization, a person who pretended to be an employee of the bank’s debt collection team informed the victim that there was a problem with the existing loan during the loan review, and then pretended to be an employee of the Financial Supervisory Service and made a phone call to the victim, and the account was suspended. It scared me in the way that it could be bad credit.

The victim was suspicious of voice phishing and made a confirmation phone call to the bank’s debt collection team and the Financial Supervisory Service.

Lee Mo, who suffered from voice phishing damage in February, said on a YouTube broadcast, “I was in a voice phishing scam while looking for a loan because I needed money while operating a PC room, and I was injured by 23 million won.” “In the process of checking by calling the Financial Supervisory Service or the bank’s representative number, all doubts were resolved.”

He said, “To receive a loan, you have to pay back the existing loan, and if you make an account transfer, it is not possible because the Financial Supervisory Service sees it, and if you meet in person, there will be no trace, so there is no problem of violating the existing loan contract.” When he delivered 23 million won, he also showed a proud severance of the certificate for payment in full.” “Looking at it later, it was stupid,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency recently created a Voice Phishing Specialized Investigation Task Force (TF) to directly conduct voice phishing investigations being handled by each police station in the Seoul area. This is because they recognized the severity of the recent surge in voice phishing crimes.

Voice phishing damage received in Seoul last year amounted to 222.8 billion won. On the 15th, the head of the Seoul Police Agency Jang Ha-yeon also said, “We have set a goal to reduce voice phishing by 50% this year and are responding with full force,” he said. “We are working with a different response system than before.”