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The Financial Supervisory Commission said it will reduce the daily limit of money people can withdraw or transfer at ATMs by 40 percent to fight a recent wave of phone phishing scams. The measure will put a bigger burden on self-employed people who transfer huge amounts of money through ATMs. Starting in September, the FSC will lower the daily limit of cash withdrawals on ATMs from the current W10 million (US$1=W915) to W6 million and the daily limit of financial transfers from the current W50 million to W30 million.
The measure comes amid a recent wave of phone fraud where illegal residents con Koreans into transferring money into their bank accounts by posing as National Tax Service agents and saying victims will be given refunds on taxes, fines and insurance premiums. According to the FSC, Korean people have lost W37.1 billion to foreign swindlers in 3,990 phone fraud schemes since June last year. The FSC also tightened the screw on such scams by banning foreigners who stay in Korea for less than three months from opening bank accounts. Foreigners staying more than three month are able to open bank accounts only after submitting documents that prove their identity, job and residence.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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