The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Police have caught a group of criminals who stole hundreds of millions of won by sending text messages containing malicious codes to random mobile phone numbers. (Nov 20th, 2023)
According to the police, these criminals convinced victims to install malicious codes on their mobile phones to extract finanical information. They also impersonated prosecutors and stole a total of 500 million won from 14 known victims.
How did the victims end up installing these codes?
This new type of Mobile Freud came in the form of a text message saying that ‘a parcel delivery is being stored due to address mismatch’, tricking the receiver to click on a URL which implants the code and steals personal and finanical information. They also sent messages saying that ones ‘credit score has dropped’ and that they needed to ‘send money to a National Safety Account’ while impersonating a prosecutor.
The criminals have testified that the stolen 500 million won was “send to the chief on operations in China who ordered the crime.”
The police have requested an Interpol red notice for the leader in China and are conducting a joint investigation.
Police official’s say “If you receive an unknown text message, such as a package deliver, mobile wedding invitation or anything related to health insurance, do not open the attached link. If you have already opened it, we recommend testing with an antivirus or resetting your phone.” You can also apply for accident prevention registation for personal information exposure at ‘FINE‘ which is operated by the Financial Supervisory Service.
My personal rule, don’t click on ANY URL’s sent from anyone- period!
Doesn’t matter if it’s from a number I know- family or friend, anyone who sends me a URL Link, don’t expect me to open it! This rule applies to all forms of URL Links, whether it’s text, email or DM. Better to be safe than sorry!
This post was written on basis of the following article: https://www.news1.kr/articles/5236143
