Crime · South Korea
Telecommunications financial fraud
In plain English
The statutory term is 전기통신금융사기 — telecommunications financial fraud — defined in the special act governing prevention and victim reimbursement, with the Financial Services Commission as competent authority. 보이스피싱 is the public-facing and media term, used even in official awareness campaigns, and now covers messaging, SMS and remote-access vectors well beyond voice.
Register
Legal term. Defined by statute. Carries legal consequences.
The instrument
통신사기피해환급법
Special Act on the Prevention of Telecommunications-based Financial Fraud and Refund of Fraudulently Obtained Assets
Definition at Art. 2(2). Competent bodies: 금융위원회 (Financial Services Commission) AND 경찰청 (Korean National Police Agency) — both are listed
From 1 October 2026 the act is renamed, substituting 피해자산 (fraudulently obtained assets) for 피해금. Check any citation against the publication date. 기관사칭형 is a statistical typology used by police and the financial supervisor, not a statutory term.
Literally
보이스피싱 is a Korean coinage from English "voice phishing".
What English gets wrong
English writing uses "voice phishing" without noting that it is a Korean coinage, that it long ago stopped being limited to voice calls, and — most importantly — that it is not the statutory term. And 기관사칭형 (institution impersonation) goes almost entirely unnamed in English despite being the direct counterpart of a category Japanese police also track.
What to write instead
voice phishing (statutory: 전기통신금융사기, telecommunications financial fraud). Name the sub-category where it matters.
Related
- Tokushu sagi — 特殊詐欺
- Jopok — 조직폭력배 / 조폭
Sources
- Special Act on Prevention of Telecommunications Financial Fraud and Refund of Damages
- Financial Supervisory Service public materials