Voice phishing ruse hooks job seekers

/Courtesy of Twitter

By Lee Han-soo

Criminals are using new voice phishing methods to lure job seekers to dummy companies to steal their banking information, according to wire agency Newsis.

Victims are asked for their credit card passwords, bank account numbers and resident registration numbers on the pretence the information is needed to create an account for salary. But the criminals are using the information to set up secret accounts for future crimes.

The ruse preys on victims by exploiting their dream of being employed and their reluctance to refuse their future employer. It has had over 51 victims, according to a Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) report on Tuesday.

According to the FSS, companies will never ask future employees for their bank account details or credit card passwords. A salary account only requires a bank account number and it is needed only after the employment process is finished, it said.

“Job seekers have to formally vet the company they apply for by visiting the company or checking the company through the Internet,” an FSS employee told Newsis. “If the victims’ bank accounts are used for illegal purposes, the FSS may register the victims as persons of interest. The authority’s monitoring can bring disadvantages to the victims in their future financial issues.”