Telco the war against voice phishing

Three mobile carriers have declared war on voice phishing. The move is aimed at protecting its customers, but is also seen as a move being conscious of the recent political stance that the government intends to strictly control companies that cannot prevent voice phishing.

South Koreans, who were caught and detained after Cambodian authorities cracked down on the crime complex, are being repatriated through Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on the morning of Oct. 18, 2025. The repatriation targets are suspected of participating in crimes such as voice phishing and romance scams at the so-called "wench" crime complex in Cambodia. / News 1

According to statistics released by the National Police Agency on Sunday, the total number of voice phishing incidents from January to November last year amounted to 21,588. The figure represents a 15.6 percent increase from 18,676 cases from January to November 2024. During the same period, the amount of damage amounted to 1.133 trillion won, up 56.1 percent from 725.7 billion won from January to November 2024.

Due to the nature of voice phishing, which is usually carried out over the phone, the telecommunications company, is in an emergency. As the number of voice phishing crimes increases rapidly, various measures are being taken.

SK Telecom has introduced a ‘family care’ feature that instantly informs registered guardians of dangerous situations when a suspicious voice phishing call is detected on the phone. KT has established an AI-based phishing number detection and blocking system in cooperation with the National Police Agency’s Integrated Telecommunications and Financial Fraud Response Team and started operation in January this year. LG U+ recently established a “AI-based financial-communications voice phishing real-time collaboration system” with KB Kookmin Bank.

An industry official explained, “Since the hacking of the three telecommunications companies last year, voice phishing and security have become major agendas.”

The reason why telecommunication companies are moving quickly is that if they fail to prevent voice phishing, a firestorm could affect them in the future.

Recently, the Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for a so-called ‘no-fault compensation liability system’ (a revision to the Communications Fraud Damage Refund Act), in which financial companies of victims and criminals compensate for damage caused by voice phishing in half. It aims to make the victims of voice phishing pay the amount of damage regardless of whether the financial companies are high-ranking or negligent in relation to voice phishing.

Right now, the subject of the law is limited to the financial sector. However, as the financial sector claims that telecommunication companies should also be included in the compensation sharing list, there is a possibility that telecommunication companies will be liable in the future. It is known that the opposition parties are already preparing a bill to share responsibility for non-fault compensation with telecommunication companies.

Another source said, “The banking sector is insisting that telecommunication companies responsible for preventing voice phishing should also be liable for compensation.” “The financial sector has stronger monitoring and monitoring authority than telecommunication companies. It is not easy to see the financial sector and telecommunication companies on the same line.”