2024.07.30. The Fair Economy — Rep. Lee Dal-hui of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee recently revealed that as phishing crimes using text messages become more sophisticated and damage spreads, the number of smishing crimes has tripled over the past five years, while arrests by the Korean National Police Agency increased about 6.5 times during the same period.
According to data submitted to Rep. Lee Dal-hui's office by the Korean National Police Agency, the number of smishing crimes involving bait text messages over the past five years surged as follows: 822 cases in 2020, 1,336 in 2021, 799 in 2022, 1,673 in 2023, and 2,449 in the first half of 2024. Over the same period, the number of arrests rose sharply: 43 in 2020, 99 in 2021, 89 in 2022, 161 in 2023, and 288 as of the end of June 2024.
Smishing is a new type of fraud scheme that lures an unspecified large number of people into responding to movie surveys or event participation via text messages, or induces them to install malicious code, thereby defrauding them of funds.
In particular, methods have become increasingly diverse recently, with text messages being sent on issues directly tied to people's daily lives, such as "Minwon 24," "fine for illegal dumping of waste," and "notice of traffic fine imposition."
In December 2022, 227 suspects were arrested — 32 of them placed under arrest — for sending text messages about "traffic fines" and "waste complaints" and using phishing methods to swindle a total of 9.5 billion won from the accounts of 220 victims. In December 2023, four suspects were arrested for sending text messages titled "Minwon24 notice of fine imposition" that induced victims to install malicious code, swindling 410 million won from the accounts of 21 victims.
In November 2023, an incident occurred in Gangwon in which a text message reading "notice of father's passing" was sent to induce the installation of malicious code, swindling 270 million won from 9 victims.
The amount of damages from smishing caused by these new fraud schemes surged by more than 10 times, from 1.1 billion won in 2020 to 14.4 billion won last year, highlighting the urgent need for countermeasures.
The Korean National Police Agency has been carrying out intensive crackdowns on cyber fraud, including smishing, throughout the year, but there have been criticisms that police investigations alone have their limits.
Rep. Lee Dal-hui urged, "To respond to new types of fraud that are growing more cunning by the day, not only the police but related agencies must join forces. There must be a firm response through policy and technical cooperation among related agencies, including the Korean National Police Agency, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA)."
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