New Scams Surge Around Lunar New Year Holiday: "Hang Up Immediately If You’re Suspicious"

[Financial News] Police have urged the public to exercise extreme caution, warning that various new scam schemes are on the rise ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
According to the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) on the 11th, victims are increasingly falling prey to so-called new scam crimes, including investment chatroom scams, proxy purchase ("no-show") scams, team-mission side-job scams, and romance scams. Since its launch in September last year, the Joint Response Team for Telecommunications Financial Fraud has focused on blocking the tools used mainly for voice phishing (vishing), such as burner phones, malicious applications (malware apps), and phishing websites.
As a result, compared with the period before the task force was launched, the number of blocked phone numbers used in crimes has increased by 484%, and the number of blocked malicious apps has risen by 317%. From October to December last year, vishing cases fell by more than 25% year-on-year. However, new scam schemes are still causing significant damage.
Major types of new scams include investment chatroom scams, proxy purchase ("no-show") scams, team-mission side-job scams, and romance scams. In an investment chatroom scam, criminals lure victims by showing fabricated returns through pre-made fake exchange websites or apps, then steal their investment funds. Because scammers often recommend investments through look-alike sites that impersonate official brokerage firm websites or apps, people are advised not to access links via internet addresses (URLs) sent by the scammers.
So-called "no-show" scams are also frequent. In these cases, scammers pose as public institutions or companies and pretend to place large group dining or bulk orders, then ask the victim to purchase goods in advance from a specific vendor. The designated vendor is actually a fake business run by accomplices, who disappear after receiving payment for the goods. Police advise that when someone specifies a particular vendor and asks for a proxy purchase, you should suspect a scam, and if anything seems suspicious, you should directly contact the institution or company in question to verify whether the person works there and whether the order is real.
In a team-mission side-job scam, criminals approach victims by saying they can earn money by completing simple tasks such as watching advertising videos. They initially pay small amounts to build trust, then later demand deposits or additional fees in exchange for participation in supposedly high-return tasks. Police stressed that people should firmly refuse any request to transfer money, regardless of whether it is labeled as a membership fee, penalty fee, or anything else.
Romance scams involve criminals using social networking services (SNS) to pose as foreign soldiers, doctors, businesspeople, and so on. They build romantic interest and then demand money for airfare, customs clearance fees, or shipping costs for goods under the pretense of meeting in person. Recently, there have also been cases where scammers leverage the trust built through a romantic relationship to recommend investments or side jobs, which then turn into investment chatroom scams or team-mission side-job scams.
During the Lunar New Year holiday, there has also been an increase in text-message payment scams and secondhand-trade scams using fake online shopping malls. In these schemes, scammers send text messages disguised as traffic fine inquiries, parcel delivery notifications, or event and condolence notices to steal personal information and money. Police recommend that people do not click on internet links or phone numbers from unknown sources, and that before making any online transaction, they use the KNPA website’s online "check suspicious phone numbers and bank accounts" service to see whether there have been previous fraud reports.
The task force plans to work with telecom operators during the Lunar New Year holiday to issue alerts and warnings about major new scams to the entire public. It also intends to fully roll out a nationwide behavioral campaign called "Hang Up Fast," based on the idea that the most powerful and reliable way for people to protect themselves from new scams is to decisively cut off contact with scammers at an early stage by immediately ending any suspicious phone call or messenger conversation.
Shin Hyo-seob, head of the KNPA Joint Response Team for Telecommunications Financial Fraud, said, "Police will do everything we can not only to eradicate traditional voice phishing (vishing) schemes that impersonate public institutions, but also to stamp out new scam crimes." He added, "We ask the public to familiarize themselves in advance with how these crimes work, and if you know someone who may have been victimized, please help them call the 1394 Anti-Voice Phishing Hotline for counseling."
welcome@fnnews.com Jang Yu-ha Reporter