Voice Phishing has been causing constant victims in Korea since the first victim
case reported to the police in June, 2006. Voice Phishing is a new type of financial
fraud using telephones where people receive a telephone call telling them that they
have some uncollected tax refund. The call induce the victims to find a ATM machine
and instruct them to operate it, which will make them to transfer money to
the criminals' account without knowing it. The police, in effort to deal with this serious
crime, planned a special crackdown for 5 months from the 1st of July to the
30th of November, this year. In this study, the situation of Voice Phishing was analyzed,
and the problems and ways to improve the current countermeasures of the
police have been suggested.
Looking at the situation of Voice Phishing damages in Korea, about 18,684 cases
have been reported from June, 2006 to August, 2009. The damage amounts to 185.8
billion won and it targets all the people in the country including vulnerable and elderly
class without showing any socio-demographic characteristics.
The problems of the current countermeasures of the police toward Voice Phishing
have been discovered in this paper. First of all, the problems of the system are the
absence of dedicated investigation organization, the lack of international mutual-
assistance investigation system and the absences of mutual-assistance system
with subsidiary organizations. In terms of operation, it is difficult to promptly trace
the criminals' bank account and find evidence, and there is a lack of publicity. In
order to improve the current system, installation of a dedicated investigation organization
and a report center is necessary. Also, the international mutual-assistance in-vestigation system needs to be improved in line with establishment of close cooperation
system with the subsidiary organizations. As for the operation, this study suggested
various ways for enabling the police to quickly trace the criminals' bank account
and some efficient ways to improve publicity activities to raise the people's
awareness of the crime.
Voice Phishing has been causing constant victims in Korea since the first victim
case reported to the police in June, 2006. Voice Phishing is a new type of financial
fraud using telephones where people receive a telephone call telling them that they
have some uncollected tax refund. The call induce the victims to find a ATM machine
and instruct them to operate it, which will make them to transfer money to
the criminals' account without knowing it. The police, in effort to deal with this serious
crime, planned a special crackdown for 5 months from the 1st of July to the
30th of November, this year. In this study, the situation of Voice Phishing was analyzed,
and the problems and ways to improve the current countermeasures of the
police have been suggested.
Looking at the situation of Voice Phishing damages in Korea, about 18,684 cases
have been reported from June, 2006 to August, 2009. The damage amounts to 185.8
billion won and it targets all the people in the country including vulnerable and elderly
class without showing any socio-demographic characteristics.
The problems of the current countermeasures of the police toward Voice Phishing
have been discovered in this paper. First of all, the problems of the system are the
absence of dedicated investigation organization, the lack of international mutual-
assistance investigation system and the absences of mutual-assistance system
with subsidiary organizations. In terms of operation, it is difficult to promptly trace
the criminals' bank account and find evidence, and there is a lack of publicity. In
order to improve the current system, installation of a dedicated investigation organization
and a report center is necessary. Also, the international mutual-assistance in-vestigation system needs to be improved in line with establishment of close cooperation
system with the subsidiary organizations. As for the operation, this study suggested
various ways for enabling the police to quickly trace the criminals' bank account
and some efficient ways to improve publicity activities to raise the people's
awareness of the crime.