Although the financial authorities' measures and police officers investigation are there, voice phishing victims are increasing in number annually. In 2018, about 48,000 people were victimized by voice phishing victims are increasing in number annually. In 2018, about 48,000 people were victimized by voice phishing, and the damage was about 444 billion won($393 million), more than 80 percent from a year ago. More than 130 people a year fell for voice phishing, and the average cost per person is 9.1 million won.

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Seven out of ten cases were fraudsters who cheated people into sending money first, while others were frauds that pretended to be public organizations or acquaintances, such as prosecutors, police and Financial Supervisory Service. Especially, with the popularization of smartphones and social networks, instant messaging phishing, which is now more popular than public organizations, accounted for about 60 percent of the impersonal voice phishing.

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In 2018, Prosecutor Bak Gyeong-se of Busan District Public Prosecutors' Office imprisoned a whole voice phishing group member thorough investigation which took about a year. Although it is not easy for voice phishing victims to recover the damage, he had actively investigated 1,000 fake deposit bank passbooks and suspicious accounts, so he arrested about 200 criminals return 400 million won.

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According to Prosecutor Bak Gyeong-se, it is not normal for a voice phishing organization to make ten mobile phones in one person, but it is unusual for this to happen. He added that voice phishing organizations buy personal information for one million won and send pictures of some documents, they can open up a mobile phone anytime, and more difficult procedures are needed to open a mobile phone. He also said that restriction is not a suspicion but protection, so many people should sympathize with financial protection.

March 3rd, 2019 By Bak Jeong-Heon