Seminar held to strengthen response to livelihood-harming crimes, seeking measures against voice phishing

2024.07.22. The Fair Economy — The Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Korea Federation of Banks announced that they held a public-private joint seminar at the Bank Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 22nd to explore ways to strengthen the response to livelihood-impacting crimes, including voice phishing.

Voice phishing, a typical example of a crime that harms people's livelihoods, saw a significant drop in the number of cases and the amount of damages after the government launched a joint investigation team in July 2022. However, incidents have been on the rise again since late last year, with new types of crimes such as investment reading-room scams also emerging.

Online gambling crimes are also becoming a serious social issue, leading to problems such as gambling addiction among teenagers and secondary crimes committed to raise funds for gambling.

In response, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Korea Federation of Banks discussed ways to effectively block and prevent livelihood-harming crimes across the financial, telecommunications and judicial sectors, together with relevant agencies.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Korea Federation of Banks signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in January to strengthen the response to livelihood-impacting crimes, and are cooperating on sharing information, developing prevention measures, and providing educational support.

At the opening ceremony, Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok said, "I hope that a safe society in which citizens are protected from livelihood-harming crimes will be realized through cooperation among stakeholders in the financial, telecommunications and judicial sectors." Cho Yong-byeong, chairman of the Bankers Association, added, "I hope this event serves as an opportunity to find ways to eradicate livelihood-harming crimes that threaten daily life and to foster mutual communication and cooperation."

Going forward, the prosecution and the Korea Federation of Banks stated, "We will do our best to sternly punish and focus on preventing crimes against daily life so that citizens can conduct financial transactions with peace of mind."