Nearly 60,000 Fraudulent Accounts Detected in First Half; Frequency Differs 5.6 Times by Bank

Over 70% of Last Year’s Total Reached in First Half
Per 10,000 New Accounts: 7.3 at KB Kookmin, 1.3 at Shinhan and Toss

Nearly 60,000 bank accounts were suspended in the first half of this year due to their use in financial scams such as voice phishing. The number of accounts detected in just the first six months already surpassed 70% of last year’s total.

A branch of a major commercial bank in Seoul on the 30th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to data released on September 30 by the office of Assemblyman Park Sunghoon, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, and obtained from the Financial Supervisory Service, a total of 59,291 fraudulent-use accounts were found at eight banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup, Kakao, K-Bank, and Toss Bank) in the first half of the year. This amounts to 72.5% of last year’s total—81,761 accounts.

Fraudulent-use accounts include not only the accounts receiving money from victims of scams like voice phishing, but also any accounts used in the process by criminal organizations to move the proceeds elsewhere.

The number of fraudulent-use accounts has been on the rise each year. It increased 78.1%, from 45,904 in 2024 to 81,761 last year. The Financial Supervisory Service explained that, after a Supreme Court ruling in October 2024, certain investment scams have also been categorized as telecommunications financial fraud since May last year, broadening the range of accounts subject to payment suspension.

By bank, Kakao Bank reported the highest number of fraudulent-use accounts in the first half of the year with 15,089. Next were KB Kookmin Bank with 10,454; NH Nonghyup Bank, 7,909; Woori Bank, 6,812; Hana Bank, 6,792; and Shinhan Bank, 5,166.

The number of fraudulent-use accounts per 10,000 new accounts showed significant differences between banks. KB Kookmin Bank had the most with 7.3, followed by Kakao Bank with 4.8, K-Bank with 4.5, NH Nonghyup Bank with 3.0, Woori Bank with 2.8, Hana Bank with 2.0, and both Shinhan Bank and Toss Bank with 1.3. The gap between KB Kookmin Bank and the lowest, Shinhan Bank/Toss Bank, was around 5.6 times.

KB Kookmin Bank explained that its numbers were affected by a surge in accounts abused for virtual asset-related crimes after beginning a Korean won real-name account partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb in March of last year. The bank added that it has formed a cooperative body with Bithumb to counter financial scams and is responding by strengthening abnormal transaction detection.

Assemblyman Park stated, “For voice phishing, it is more important to cut off accounts used for crime before attempting to recover stolen funds. Since there is such a wide variance in the number of fraudulent-use accounts by bank, it is essential to check the overall prevention system, from identity verification at the time of account opening to abnormal transaction detection.”

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