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The National Police Agency, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Financial Services Commission have urged people to be careful today (31st) before the Chuseok holiday, against text scams (smishing) that pretend to deliver parcel delivery and financial support information, and messenger phishing disguised as holiday greetings from acquaintances.
In particular, he emphasized that you should not click on Internet addresses (URLs) or phone numbers with unknown sources included in courier inquiries, holiday greetings, mobile gift certificates, tickets, and concert tickets, and texts impersonating acquaintances.
Smishing refers to a method of convincing users to install or call a malicious app by sending a mobile phone text message containing the address of a malicious app.
During the holiday season, when courier shipments are rapidly increasing due to gift delivery, the number of text messages disguised as courier text messages also increases.
According to the police, there have been a total of 1,517,705 reports and blocks of text fraud over the past three years, of which 42.2%, or 639,809 cases, occurred during the holidays in January, February, and September.
Most of the text scams, 94.7%, are of the courier impersonation type.
It should be noted that there are cases that are disguised as public services such as impersonation of public institutions (4.3%), reservations for COVID-19 vaccination, reservations for regular health checkups, and inquiries on traffic violations.
It is also important to strengthen the smartphone security settings so that apps from unknown sources are not installed, and to install the app through an authorized open market rather than a text link when downloading the app.
If you request identification, personal information, or financial information in the name of identity verification, disaster assistance, or vaccine reservation inquiry, you must never enter or disclose it.
A government official said, "During the Chuseok period, we plan to establish a 24-hour safety response system in cooperation with relevant ministries and focus on text fraud monitoring and cybercrime crackdown."
If you receive a text message suspected of fraud during the holidays or if you suspect infection with a malicious app, you can report it to the 118 Help Center without an area code for free advice 24 hours a day.