Voice Phishing Causes W36 Billion Damage

The damages from voice phishing to bank account holders at the Korea Post Office has mounted to W36.2 billion since 2007.

According to a report submitted by the Korea Post headquarters to the National Assembly for parliamentary audit on Monday, the damage caused by voice phishing to the holders of bank account in Korea Post Office from 2007 until Aug. 25 this year was W36.39 billion in 7,006 cases.

Voice phishing is a scam where victims receive automated calls to extract their personal data. The number of cases nearly tripled in just a year, from 1,211 cases with the total damage of W7.4 billion in 2007 to 3,690 cases with the total damage of W18.68 billion in 2008.

This year, W10.2 billion of damage was reported on 2,105 occasions.