Starting tomorrow, the use of Kakao by illegal private financial operators will be suspended. In cases of illegal loan collection or other illegal private finance damage, it will now be possible to report immediately through the KakaoTalk application.
The Financial Supervisory Service announced on the 15th that it will jointly suspend the use of Kakao accounts by illegal private financial operators starting on the 16th. This decision comes as it has been raised that there is a need to expand the channels subject to suspension in order to block practical tools of crime used by illegal private finance operators, which primarily utilize social networking services (SNS) during illegal collection processes.
If a debtor is subjected to illegal loan collection methods such as being insulted, threatened, repeatedly contacted at night, having the fact of their debt disclosed to third parties other than the debtor, or being asked to repay debts on behalf of others, they can report this immediately through the KakaoTalk app.
The FSS explained that demanding loan documents through KakaoTalk and lending money is also considered an illegal lending act subject to reporting. To report illegal financial damage such as illegal loan collection or lending acts, one must delete the offending account from their friend list and click the top right corner of the chat window to report.
The FSS stated that the anonymity of the reporters is guaranteed, so there is no need to worry about secondary harm. The FSS plans to enable reporting of illegal private finance damage through its website starting in July. The FSS has already suspended the use of phone numbers that were used in illegal lending advertisements, and starting on the 22nd of next month, it will expand the phone number suspension system to include illegal lending acts and overall debt collection.
The FSS expects that the suspension of Kakao accounts and the expansion of phone number suspension for illegal private financial operators will fundamentally block financial crime tools against people's livelihoods and significantly contribute to protecting vulnerable groups exposed to illegal private financial damage.
The FSS reiterated that it will continue to monitor the business practices of illegal private financial operators and work with relevant agencies to prevent and regulate illegal private financial damage.