Telecom carriers to block voice phishing calls

The government plans to oblige local telecommunication companies to block official-looking voice phishing calls from abroad starting as early as 2013, the Korea Communication Commission said Monday.

Under a pending revision to the Telecommunications Business Act, the agency said, international phone calls would be cut off when they display the numbers of public organizations such as police stations and banks.

When con artists use local, random numbers, telecom operators will offer calling identification services to indicate that the call is coming from abroad, the telecommunication regulator said.

According to the KCC, a total of 29,987 cases have been reported to the police over the past five years and their financial losses are estimated at more than 300 billion won ($263 million).

Because phishing calls are made from abroad, mostly China, local authorities have difficulties tracking down the organized crime groups and taking preventive measures.

“Considering the figure is based on reported cases, the actual amount of losses could be 10 times higher,” said Lee Sang-hak, director of telecommunications policy planning at the KCC.

“Building up necessary infrastructure is expected to cost more than 30 billion won. But the benefits citizens will have would be much more than that,” he said.

When they are found not to be following the government order, companies could face fines up to 30 million won, the agency said.

Other than the measures against voice phishing scams, the revised bill contained plans to improve the approval process of new telecom operators and protect the consumer rights of mobile service users.

The revision also aims to streamline the allocation of frequency bandwidth among mobile carriers in order to increase predictability and transparency within the market.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)