hankyoreh

It is about to get a lot harder for tourists and other non-Korean citizens in the country temporarily to open accounts at Korean financial institutions. Government financial officials claim the ease with which temporary residents or visitors can open bank accounts in Korea is allowing the country to be used in acts of ‘‘voice phishing,’’ a form of international financial fraud involving telephone communications.

‘‘Voice phishing,’’ as it has been called, is a kind of financial fraud conducted by telephone. In Korea recently, foreign criminals have been hiring Korean speakers to call people at random and act as if they are going to refund the person’s national pension installments or taxes. The ultimate goal, however, is to get the victim to transfer their money into the criminals’ Korean bank accounts.

Up to now, the only thing foreigners have had to do in order to open a bank account was produce a passport, but if the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has its way, people who are not Korean citizens will be required to show an alien registration card issued by the Ministry of Justice, proof of employment at a domestic company or receipt of payment of property tax. And even once the account is opened, foreigners can only be issued a debit card after a set period of time has elapsed and will have limited access to Internet banking services.

‘‘Voice phishing has been on the rampage lately,’’ said Hong Yeong-man of the Financial Supervisory Commission. ‘‘We are considering setting certain limits on financial transactions by temporary residents or visitors.’’

Kwon Hyeok-se of the FSC’s policy division said it is a ‘‘loophole that exposes our financial system’’ and that even foreigners just visiting Korea can ‘‘easily open bank accounts.’’

‘‘The idea is to make accounts for temporary residents or visitors only after thoroughly confirming the reason for opening an account,’’ said Kwon.



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