Financial Fraud Losses From NongHyup Accounts Reach 322 Billion Won... Reimbursement Stays in the 10% Range

More Than 6 Million Suspicious Transactions Detected, 110,000 Actually Blocked

Amount Prevented Equivalent to About 46% of Total Losses Over the Same Period

Geumju Moon: "Efforts Needed to Further Develop the FDS and Establish Preventive Systems"

More than 12,000 cases of voice phishing and investment fraud using accounts at agricultural and livestock cooperatives have occurred over the past five years, yet the amount of money victimized individuals have managed to recover has remained in the 10% range of the total damages. As financial fraud becomes increasingly sophisticated, there is growing criticism that the current focus on post-incident reimbursement is inadequate, and that there is a pressing need to enhance systems for detecting and preventing fraudulent transactions in advance.

Geumju Moon, Member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea.

On September 27, Geumju Moon, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee (Democratic Party of Korea, representing Goheung, Boseong, Jangheung, and Gangjin in South Jeolla Province), released an analysis of data provided by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NongHyup). This analysis revealed that, from 2022 to the first half of 2026, there were a total of 12,339 cases of voice phishing and investment fraud involving accounts at agricultural and livestock cooperatives, with total losses amounting to 322 billion won.

By year, the losses were ▲13 billion won in 2022, ▲21.4 billion won in 2023, and ▲64.3 billion won in 2024. Notably, after October 2024, when investment fraud was included as an eligible case for telecommunications financial fraud restitution, the scale of losses increased significantly, reaching 179.9 billion won in 2025. Even in just the first half of this year, losses have already reached 43.3 billion won.

The reimbursement rate compared to total losses was ▲19% in 2022, ▲21% in 2023, ▲14% in 2024, ▲11% in 2025, and ▲11% in the first half of 2026.

Analysts point out that by the time victims recognize they have fallen prey to financial fraud, their funds have often already been funneled through multiple accounts, making it extremely difficult to recover losses through post-incident restitution alone.

In response, NongHyup operates a Fraud Detection System (FDS) to prevent financial crimes. The FDS is designed to detect suspicious transactions that deviate from normal behavior patterns, thereby filtering out those that may be fraudulent.

Over the past five years, the FDS has detected 6,126,238 suspicious transactions, of which 115,319 were actually blocked. The amount of potential losses prevented through these actions was approximately 147.5 billion won.

There are growing calls to go beyond simply flagging suspicious transactions and to further improve the detection accuracy and response capabilities to actually halt unauthorized transfers and withdrawals in real time.

Geumju Moon stated, "The number of voice phishing and investment fraud cases targeting NongHyup accounts has surpassed 12,000 cases and 320 billion won in losses, but the percentage of recovered funds remains at just over 10%. Restitution for farmers, who lose a lifetime of savings overnight, is woefully insufficient."

She continued, "Because NongHyup is the financial institution closest to rural areas and the elderly nationwide, it must not only provide financial services but also act as a safety net to protect the public's assets. The FDS's detection accuracy and blocking capabilities should be strengthened, and preventive education, along with on-site response systems for digitally vulnerable groups, must also be enhanced."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.