LG Uplus reported on the 15th that it has enhanced its proprietary customer damage prevention analysis system utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), resulting in approximately 200 billion won in prevention effects against voice phishing damage over the past three months. The company is also actively engaged in damage prevention activities, providing police with actionable information to apprehend criminal organizations.
From February to April, LG Uplus captured 5,090 malicious apps believed to be propagated by voice phishing organizations through its customer damage prevention analysis system and conveyed related information to the Korean National Police Agency. The agency visited the residences of suspected victims to delete malicious apps on-site as part of its relief efforts. The company has also established a field cooperation system with the Seoul Police Agency, making it the first in the industry.
The government announced that the average damage per incident of voice phishing last year was approximately 41 million won. The company noted, "If translated into the amount of damage prevented, it is estimated to have blocked approximately 208.7 billion won in voice phishing losses."
Currently, LG Uplus's customer damage prevention analysis system monitors the activities of voice phishing organizations threatening its customers in real time and periodically provides related analysis results to the police. LG Uplus analyzes malicious apps obtained through relevant agencies or its own test bed (a system that collects and analyzes spam messages using virtual phone numbers) to detect and block them. The company has prioritized monitoring malicious apps used in crimes and is operating a security system accordingly.
LG Uplus is also extracting call diversion numbers used in voice phishing crimes and providing them to the police. Voice phishing organizations mainly use internet phone numbers starting with '070' but disguise themselves with numbers starting with '02' or '1588' to avoid suspicion. When a victim calls a number like '02' or '1588' as intended by the voice phishing organization, the call is routed to an internet phone used for the crime due to call forwarding. Even if incoming and outgoing calls to the diverted number are blocked, the actual numbers of the criminal organizations remain, allowing the crimes to continue. In response, LG Uplus tracks the final forwarded numbers within its customer damage prevention analysis system and provides them to the police.
Overseas voice phishing organizations are also installing 'caller ID spoofing equipment (SIM box)' to alter the appearance of calls made domestically. LG Uplus's customer damage prevention analysis system's solution captures illegal alteration patterns and extracts the device identification number (IMEI) used in crimes. This information is relayed to the police to inform them of the location of criminal organizations and support number blocking. Last year, over 17,000 device communications were blocked, demonstrating the success of voice phishing prevention efforts.
Hong Kwan-hee, chief information security officer and authorized person (executive director) of LG Uplus, said, "The number of voice phishing crimes and the amount of damage are increasing sharply each year, making customer protection efforts even more important," adding, "We will strengthen our internal security capabilities and further expand collaboration with the police to ensure customers can use our services with greater peace of mind."