According to government data, 70,218 people fell prey to voice phishing scams in 2018, compared with 50,013 people in 2017 and 45,921 people in 2016. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial watchdog said Sunday it will launch a trial service of an artificial intelligence (AI) app to help people better combat telephone scams.
The AI app, which will be available for customers of state-run Industrial Bank of Korea for three months from Monday, offers real-time voice analysis that detects words scammers commonly use, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement.
After a three-month trial, the FSS said it will allow other people to download the app, which is only available on Android platform.
Last October, the FSS launched a fresh campaign to eradicate phone scams known as “voice phishing,” calling for banks and other financial institutions to make more efforts to protect their customers.
Such scams involve the use of fraudulent phone calls that trick people into giving away private financial information, enabling scammers to access their accounts.
Despite previous efforts to prevent telephone scams, the number of voice phishing scams has been on the rise.
According to government data, 70,218 people fell prey to voice phishing scams in 2018, compared with 50,013 people in 2017 and 45,921 people in 2016.
(Yonhap)
