Fraud-linked bank accounts surge despite regulator's warning
An illustration generated with ChatGPT
Bank accounts linked to financial fraud in the past three months have nearly doubled from a year earlier, underscoring persistent vulnerabilities despite increased regulatory warnings.
Banking industry officials said Friday that efforts to prevent accounts from being used in crimes such as voice phishing and other scams have been intensified, but the number of suspicious accounts continues to rise.
According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), more than 7,700 accounts across nine major banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH NongHyup, iM Bank, KakaoBank, Kbank and Toss Bank — were linked to financial fraud in the first quarter, compared with 3,784 during the same period last year.
Fraud-linked accounts were highest at iM Bank with 1,653, followed by Hana with 1,511, Woori with 1,404 and KakaoBank with 1,017.
The surge comes despite heightened warnings over financial scams and intensified government efforts to curb financial crime.
Since last year, authorities have been pushing legislation that would introduce a "no-fault liability" rule requiring financial institutions to compensate victims of voice phishing even when they are not found negligent. The move is aimed at strengthening consumer protection and tightening internal controls.
The FSS said last month that it would mobilize all available resources to ensure tangible progress in tackling financial fraud.
Banks, for their part, are stepping up countermeasures, including deploying artificial intelligence (AI) tools and forming dedicated task forces.
"Since December last year, we have deployed an AI-based smishing detection service that analyzes text messages on customers' smartphones and alerts them to suspected fraud," a Woori Bank official said, adding the bank is also targeting vulnerable groups, such as university and foreign students, with prevention campaigns.
The sharpest increase in fraud-linked accounts this year was seen at iM Bank, which said it has tightened screening measures through a task force launched late last year. This includes stricter limits on opening new accounts and enhanced identity verification such as facial recognition.
Toss Bank, an internet-only lender, said it has strengthened coordination across departments to improve its response.
"Key departments, including consumer protection, fraud detection, anti-money laundering and legal teams, have strengthened coordination to improve response measures," a Toss Bank official said.
The official added that such efforts helped cut the firm's number of fraud-related accounts by nearly half compared with the same period last year.