Voice phishing scams targeting foreign residents on the rise

Recently, there have been increasing cases of voice phishing scams targeting foreign residents. On May 20, the Ministry of Justice's Immigration and Foreigner Policy Headquarters announced an 'emergency notice' on its website, warning people to be careful of voice phishing scams impersonating the Ministry of Justice (Immigration).

According to an announcement from the Korea Immigration Service, voice phishing criminals are attempting to defraud foreign residents by impersonating the Korea Immigration Service’s Immigration Inspection Division or its affiliated organization, the Immigration Information Center (1345 Call Center).

(Case 1) Fraudsters are making calls so that the phone numbers of departments and organizations affiliated with the Ministry of Justice are displayed, such as the Immigration Inspection Division main number (02-2110-4039), the International Criminal Division (02-2110-3294), the Ministry of Justice Customer Support Center (02-2110-3000), and the Foreigner Information Center (02-6908-1345).

When a foreign resident receives a call, they mention the name of a specific immigration officer and ask for the foreign resident to appear at the prosecutor's office because the foreign resident was involved in an incident, or ask for additional personal information. In this case, you should write down the phone number and the name of the person in charge, and then call the number from another person's phone to confirm whether the person in charge actually called.

Regarding this case, an official from the Immigration Office said, “The Ministry of Justice Customer Support Center (02-2110-3000) is a number for receiving only and cannot be used for outgoing calls,” and “In the case of the Foreigner Comprehensive Information Center (1345 Call Center), the outgoing number is not displayed as 02-6908-1345.”

(Case 2) In the second case, the scammers pretend to be immigration officials (specific inspectors) and call foreign residents, asking if they have ever been to a specific country. They then list various frauds and murders that have occurred in countries such as Southeast Asia, and ask them to download the immigration office app.

Do not download and install such apps on your smartphone, as they may expose your personal and financial information to scammers and steal your money.

Regarding this case, an official from the Immigration Office said, “If a department or agency under the Ministry of Justice asks you to appear at the prosecutor’s office, provide personal information, or download a smartphone app, you should first suspect voice phishing,” and “There have been many cases of attempted voice phishing crimes recently, so foreign residents should be careful not to become a victim.”

Mary Eve of Papaya Story