A 41% increase compared to the previous year... Last year, 1,376 people reported being victims of fraud from overseas Koreans.

A 41% increase from the previous year... 504 people reported in the first half of this year

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Min Seon-hee = Last year, the number of people reporting fraud from overseas Koreans exceeded 1,300, marking the highest number in 10 years.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Rep. Kim Jun-hwan of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, on the 25th, the total number of reports of fraud and other damage to Korean nationals living abroad reported to diplomatic missions abroad last year was 1,376.

This is a 41.0% increase from the previous year (976 people) and the highest number since 2015 when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began managing related statistics.

By year, the number gradually increased to 461 in 2021, 638 in 2022, and 1,003 in 2023, then slowed to 976 in 2024, but increased again to 1,376 last year.

Last year, Asia-Pacific had the largest number of victims reported by region with 556 people, followed by the Americas with 421 people, Europe with 295 people, and the Asia-Middle East with 104 people.

By country, there were 224 people from the United States, 177 from Canada, 85 from China, and 37 from Japan.

In the first half of this year, a total of 504 damage reports were received. By region, 194 people were in Asia Pacific, 173 in America, 80 in Europe, and 57 in Asia and the Middle East.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Based on the first half of this year, there is a possibility that the number of reported victims will decrease compared to last year, but we need to watch the situation in the second half. At the moment, it is difficult to explain the trend or the reason."

Rep. Kim said, “I ask you to do your best to strengthen fraud prevention and provide relief.”