'Relay impersonation' fraud from community centers to banks... Financial Supervisory Service Consumer Alert

The Financial Supervisory Service issued a consumer alert when a voice phishing method appeared that impersonated institutional officials, from community center staff to bank branch managers, as 'relays'.

On the 22nd, the Financial Supervisory Service announced that it had given this consumer warning a ‘caution’ rating.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, last month, one victim received a call from a fraudster impersonating a community center employee saying that a person holding his or her ID card and power of attorney had come to get a copy of the certificate. Afterwards, people impersonating employees of the Korea Credit Information Service, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Public Prosecution Service contacted the victims one by one and deceived them, saying, "You are involved in a crime due to identity theft and you need to conduct an asset inspection."

Afterwards, he even impersonated a bank branch manager and made the victim believe that the government would manage his assets, so the victim donated 100 million won to the fraudster in three days.

This crime proceeded in four stages: bait, impersonation of a relay organization, fear and isolation, and embezzlement of funds. Although the name of the organization that appeared on the phone kept changing, the actual person on the phone was the same criminal organization from beginning to end.

In particular, it was found that fraudsters lowered vigilance by making victims feel like they were protected from crime damage rather than being suspicious of them, and encouraged victims to make phone calls directly.

The Financial Supervisory Service warned that no matter what agency the fraudster claims, such as the Community Service Center, Korea Credit Information Service, or Financial Supervisory Service, he/she should hang up the phone and check directly through the government civil service information call center (☎110) to see if there has been an attempt to issue documents.

In addition, the Korea Credit Information Service said that it does not accept reports of identity theft and advised people to directly check for identity theft and illegal mobile phone activation through Account Info.

The Financial Supervisory Service emphasized, “The Financial Supervisory Service, the Public Prosecution Service, the Central Investigation Agency, and the police do not request money to be sent under any pretext,” and added, “The phrase ‘do not inform anyone’ is a sign of fraud.”

At the same time, he said, "Fraudsters use as bait not only community centers, but also contacts commonly encountered in everyday life, such as court registration, courier service, and card delivery. Although the method of first contact is different, the structure is the same, luring the victim with a number or link provided by the fraudster and then impersonating an organization and demanding money."

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to disseminate this method to the entire financial sector through voice phishing damage prevention and inspection meetings and continue to cooperate with related organizations such as the Telecommunications Financial Fraud Integrated Response Team.