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| Financial Services Commission (FSC) headquarters in central Seoul / Yonhap |
By Anna J. Park
In a move to root out phishing schemes in the country, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced a set of new measures that apply larger protections for victims of phishing schemes involving cryptocurrencies or mobile payment systems.
The top financial regulator explained Tuesday that it has formed a taskforce with the prosecution, police and bank association as well as crypto exchanges to fight against new types of phishing schemes that target victims' cyber assets.
The amount of phishing using cryptocurrencies soared to 19.96 billion won ($15 million) last year, up from 8.2 billion in 2020, as the country's law punishing telecommunications-based phishing schemes was not covering the area of cryptocurrencies and victims were unable to turn to financial authorities to recover their losses.
The government hopes to effect change by applying the Special Act on the Prevention of Loss Caused by Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud and Refund to crypto-related phishing schemes.
With the new measures setting in, victims can ask for an immediate account freeze at cryptocurrency exchanges when they become aware they have been drawn into a phishing scam. Then the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) can step in and facilitate the return of losses incurred from the crimes to victims. Phishing using mobile payment systems will also be protected under the new measures.
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been sternly responding to phishing crimes, as the government chose it for last year's key national agenda. The FSC said the number of phishing cases declined by some 20 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, yet new types of fraud have been emerging to circumvent the financial authorities.
The financial authorities will also bolster their responsorial system to operate 24 hours against such financial fraud schemes.
"The necessary revisions to the Special Act on the Prevention of Loss Caused by Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud and Refund for Loss will be pushed through the Assembly in April," an official from the FSC said.
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