(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, April 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Voice phishing caused a loss of more than 100 billion won last year, but only a small amount has been returned to the victims, data showed Thursday.
The Financial Services Commission revealed that voice phishing resulted in losses of 145.1 billion won (US$109 million) last year, with a return rate of just 26.1 percent.
A total of 12,816 people were victimized by voice phishing, down by 3 percent from the previous year’s 13,213.
Among the types of voice phishing, 78.6 percent involved impersonating family members, friends, or public agencies, while 21.4 percent involved fake loan advertisements.
People in their 60s and above accounted for 46.7 percent of all losses, while 33.1 percent were borne by those in their 50s.
Losses caused by voice phishing scams using bank accounts reached 111.1 billion won, similar to the previous year, while losses in the online banking sector increased from 12.9 billion won in 2021 to 30.4 billion won last year.
The financial regulator stated that the losses were being transferred through multiple bank accounts within a short period, making it difficult to suspend bank accounts and retrieve the funds.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
