A voice phishing analysis model developed by the South Korean government this year that is thought to be the first of its kind in the world has played a pivotal role in the investigation of voice phishing crimes. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – A voice phishing analysis model developed by the South Korean government this year that is thought to be the first of its kind in the world has played a pivotal role in the investigation of voice phishing crimes.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) announced on Tuesday that a total of 51 voice phishers, including the leaders and financial managers of three voice phishing crime organizations, were apprehended through the use of the voice analysis model. The model was developed early this year through a collaborative effort between the MOIS Integrated Data Analysis Center and the National Forensic Service.
According to the MOIS, the three voice phishing crime organizations established call center offices in domestic apartments and employed personal information and cloned phones to defraud victims by threatening to release explicit content, resulting in estimated proceeds of approximately 600 million won from their crimes.
During the process of arresting these individuals, the voice analysis model played a pivotal role. Investigators from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police first identified five voice phishing suspects during a raid of a relay device operation that altered overseas calling numbers into domestic phone numbers beginning with ’010′. Subsequently, they used the voice analysis model to determine the similarity of the suspects’ voices to those of voice phishers identified by victims.
Upon confirming that the voices matched, the investigators substantiated the allegations against the suspects and requested in-depth analysis from the National Forensic Service to investigate potential involvement in other crimes and identify possible accomplices.
Utilizing the voice analysis model, the National Forensic Service compared and analyzed the voices of the suspects with those of the 13,000 known voice phishing criminals in their database. Through 12 rounds of collaborative analysis with the police, the National Forensic Service established connections to 17 other unsolved criminal cases, and efforts are underway to apprehend individuals related to these cases.
Drawing on their in-house analysis and the results provided by the National Forensic Service, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police efficiently and effectively identified the suspects’ identities, expediting follow-up investigations by scrutinizing call and account details and reviewing CCTV footage.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
