ㅣ Victim Who Lost 50 Million Won After Clicking on a Mourning Text

Recently, a shocking case was revealed in which a victim experienced the rapid withdrawal of 50 million won after clicking on a mourning text message.

On the 23rd, CBC Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" reported the story of victim A, who lost 50 million won in just 30 seconds due to a smishing (a combination of SMS and phishing) incident.

A stated, "In February, I received a text message from my mobile service provider about the cancellation of my phone, which made me aware of the crime." He continued, "After receiving the cancellation message from SK Telecom, I got another text saying my phone had been activated with LG Uplus just 10 minutes later, and my phone became unusable."

Upon confirming that his phone was malfunctioning, A rushed to a nearby telecom store. He reported, "I told them my phone was not working," to which the telecom representative replied, "Your phone is 99% hacked. You need to take action quickly."

Afterward, A went to LG Uplus, where the representatives explained, "Since the phone was activated as a budget phone, we do not have the authority to cancel it."

Shortly after, A checked with his wife’s mobile phone and discovered that there had been alarms for five transactions of 10 million won withdrawn from his overdraft account.

He said, "I had set up alerts for my overdraft account on my wife's phone. The time from when my phone was canceled to when the 50 million won was withdrawn was just 20 minutes."

As soon as the incident occurred, A reported it to the police.

A suspected that the genesis of the incident was when he checked the "mourning text." He recalled, "A couple of months ago, I received a mourning text from someone I didn’t know, which instructed me to download something. So, I downloaded it, but the website didn’t open, and suddenly my screen became unresponsive."

The police inquired whether he had stored a "driver's license" on his phone at the time of hacking, and A confirmed he had. The police stated, "That may have led to the leakage of personal information and could be the reason for the financial loss."

Victim A expressed, "I run a noodle shop, and the economy is tougher now than during COVID-19." He added, "I am relying on an overdraft account, and this incident has happened."

He lamented, "There’s no organization to appeal to even after suffering such damage. Are they telling me to just give up?"

Recently, a more advanced form of smishing crime has emerged, and experts advise using apps that prevent the installation of malicious applications.

Especially with budget phones, there is a risk that hackers might exploit security vulnerabilities during the activation process, so caution is advised, and identification documents should preferably not be stored.

Image source: CBC Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' resource photos for understanding the article / gettyimagesbank