South Korean Exporters Suffer $96 Million in Overseas Payment Scams (Image supported by ChatGPT)
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean trading companies have lost more than 130 billion won (US$96 million) to foreign exchange-related trade fraud in the past four years, underscoring persistent vulnerabilities in international transactions, according to data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Wednesday.
Between 2021 and the first half of 2025, the FSS recorded 1,591 fraud cases totaling US$95.84 million (about 1.33 trillion won). The vast majority — 95.4 percent, or 1,518 cases — involved email hacking schemes in which fraudsters induced companies to transfer payments to falsified accounts. Another 73 cases (4.6 percent) were linked to scams disguised as trade brokerage or certification fees.
Many firms only realized they had been defrauded after receiving payment reminders or nonpayment notices from overseas partners, the regulator said.
The United States, Britain, China and Hong Kong accounted for more than 60 percent of total losses. But incidents are increasingly spreading to other regions, including Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates and Portugal.
Notably, 24 percent of cases involved mismatches between the nationality of the purported payee and the bank account, with UAE and Portuguese accounts frequently used in the scams.
The FSS stressed the importance of pre-transaction verification, warning that recovery of funds is nearly impossible once money is transferred overseas. It said it will introduce common preventive measures with major banks later this year, including revised monitoring standards and strengthened customer guidance.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
