Republic of Korea: Announced Ministry of Science and ICT measures against voice phishing in the telecommunications sector

On 8 July 2024, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced measures against voice phishing in the telecommunications sector. The measures aim to prevent the misuse of telecommunications services for voice phishing crimes and proactively respond to new crime techniques. Despite a reduction in voice phishing incidents since 2022, 2024 has seen a significant increase in phishing texts and spam, necessitating additional measures. In particular, the measures address strategies that include blocking illegal spam and unregistered phones by strengthening entry requirements for SMS resale businesses, extending the period to limit multiple line registrations under the same name from 30 to 180 days, and enhancing identity verification procedures. Public awareness will be raised by marking roaming texts and public/financial institution texts with specific indicators to prevent phishing. A simple reporting button for phishing will be implemented to enable rapid disconnection of suspicious phone lines. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based detection systems will be developed to detect voice phishing using AI and data, with crime call data provided to the private sector for early commercialisation and exploration of voice watermarking to prevent deep voice phishing.