Rising Threat of Voice Phishing in South Korea
South Korea is experiencing a significant increase in voice phishing scams, with per capita losses now more than three times higher than Japan’s. This alarming trend highlights the country’s growing vulnerability to high-tech financial crime as international fraud networks exploit digital habits, leaked data, and economic anxiety.
According to data from national police agencies, South Korea recorded 20,800 voice phishing cases in 2024—slightly below Japan’s 21,000. However, the total losses in South Korea reached 854.5 billion won, surpassing Japan’s 71.9 billion yen (approximately 673 billion won) by over 180 billion won. This translates to per capita losses of 16,500 won in South Korea, compared to 5,400 won in Japan.
Interestingly, Japan—alongside Taiwan—is often considered the birthplace of voice phishing. Early schemes in the 1990s emerged from post-bubble loan shark operations. However, today, the roles have reversed. While Japan continues to deal with scams targeting elderly victims, South Korea has become a more lucrative and exposed target for transnational cybercriminal syndicates.
Factors Contributing to the Increase
The reasons behind this shift are multifaceted. South Korea’s deep digital integration, reflected in a 94.7 percent social media usage rate compared to 78.6 percent in Japan, has created fertile ground for more targeted and sophisticated fraud. Scammers frequently exploit hacked personal data to tailor impersonation schemes, often posing as prosecutors or financial regulators.
One example involves a 24-year-old university student in Seoul who lost her entire savings—30 million won—after receiving a call from a man claiming to be a state prosecutor. He knew her full name, university, and department. He warned that she was under investigation for financial crimes and demanded she verify her funds by transferring them to a crypto wallet. Worried the case would damage her employment prospects, she complied.
In contrast, Japan’s dominant tactic remains the “ore ore” (“it’s me, it’s me”) scam, where a fraudster impersonates a panicked relative—typically a grandson—in need of urgent cash. In 2024, 45 percent of Japanese phishing victims were aged 75 and older. These “ore ore” scams accounted for nearly two-thirds (63.8 percent) of total losses.
Shifting Demographics of Victims
South Korean victims are skewing younger. In the first half of 2025, those in their 20s made up 23.9 percent of all reported cases, second only to victims in their 60s. The share of 20-something victims has increased by 6.3 percentage points over the past four years.
The gap between the two countries is widening. In 2018, South Korea’s annual voice phishing losses exceeded Japan’s by 45.4 billion won. By 2024, that gap had grown fourfold to 181.5 billion won.
Role of Technology and Economic Conditions
Technology plays a central role in the rise of voice phishing in South Korea. Scam operations now routinely deploy malware that allows remote control of victims’ smartphones, while payment is often demanded in cryptocurrency. Korea’s crypto ecosystem is far more active than Japan’s, with more than seven times as many listed coins and 12 times the daily trading volume.
The ratio of physical cash in circulation relative to GDP is also far lower in Korea (8 percent) than in Japan (20 percent)—making Korean consumers more accustomed to digital transactions and therefore more exposed to abuse. In a recent case in Daegu, police dismantled a ring that had laundered 600 million won through an unregistered cryptocurrency exchange.
Cultural norms further widen the vulnerability gap. In South Korea, it is common to leave one’s mobile phone number displayed on parked cars; in Japan, even including a number on a business card can be considered invasive. Hosaka Yuji, a professor at Sejong University, notes that such norms help explain why impersonation scams in Japan target familial relationships, while in Korea, professional authority is the more common guise.
Economic conditions are also a factor. Japan’s labor market remains unusually stable, with a record 98.1 percent of university graduates securing employment this spring, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. South Korea’s youth, by contrast, face a deteriorating job market. The employment rate for people aged 15 to 29 fell to 45.3 percent in April—its twelfth straight monthly decline.
“In Japan, most graduates can find full-time work if they seek it,” said Park Sang-jun, a professor at Waseda University. “But in Korea, young people struggling to find jobs are not only more susceptible to scams—they’re also more likely to be recruited into the operations themselves.”
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