Police to send voice-phishing warning texts to 48 million over scams exploiting financial-sector hacking

[Financial News] Police will send warning text messages to about 48 million subscribers of the three mobile carriers to prevent follow-on harm, including voice phishing and smishing, exploiting recent hacking incidents in the financial sector.
According to the National Police Agency on the 13th, the Joint Response Team for Telecommunications Financial Fraud plans to send advisory and warning messages about financial-sector hacking in phases to all subscribers of the three mobile carriers, starting in the third week of this month. The specific schedule is being coordinated with the carriers.
The messages will warn about scams in which fraudsters impersonate financial institutions and approach people claiming they can adjust interest rates or loan limits. They will also urge caution about attempts to obtain personal information and induce money transfers under the pretext of compensation for personal-information leaks or account protection.
The messages will also advise people not to click on URLs from unclear sources or install apps. Anyone who receives a suspicious message will be advised to contact the relevant financial institution’s customer service center, the police, or the Joint Response Team for Telecommunications Financial Fraud for advice.
Police have sent advisory and warning messages to subscribers of the three mobile carriers each quarter, selecting the main types of scams at the time. In the first quarter of this year, they covered emerging scam methods, including smishing ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday; in the second quarter, scams related to the situation in the Middle East; and in the third quarter, they urged caution about investment-advice chat rooms and no-show scams.
Police said they selected scams related to financial-sector hacking for this round of alerts, taking into account the possibility of further harm resulting from the incidents. The messages will be sent with the carriers’ cooperation and without requiring a separate budget.
A police official said, “Each quarter, we provide timely information on the types of scams that are prevalent at the time and that the public should be wary of,” adding, “This time, since a financial-sector hacking incident has occurred, we selected this topic because people need to be alert to related harm.”
[email protected] Yeji Kim Reporter