The ‘Emergency Blocking System’, which blocks within 10 minutes phone numbers used for crimes such as voice phishing (telephone financial fraud), takes effect from the 24th.

Starting today, the National Police Agency, centered on the Integrated Response Team for Telecommunication Financial Fraud, implemented an emergency blocking system that immediately blocks from the network phone numbers abused for voice-phishing crimes as soon as they are reported.

Previously, under the Telecommunications Business Act, it took more than two days from receipt of a report to actually suspend a phishing number. Noting that all phishing calls and texts use the networks of the three domestic carriers (SK Telecom·KT·LG Uplus), the agency devised a way to block early when a phone number attempts to access the network.

After blocking, offenders cannot place calls or send bait texts from that number, and even if a recipient later checks and calls that number, the call will not connect. Numbers temporarily blocked will be fully deactivated after additional analysis.

The National Police Agency explained that because 75% of voice-phishing crimes occur within 24 hours after receiving the initial bait message or call, it was necessary to shorten the number-blocking time.

The National Police Agency has also, since last December, worked with Samsung Electronics to implement a ‘Quick Report’ function on Samsung smartphones. When a user long-presses a suspected phishing text or selects a call log, a ‘Report as phishing’ button appears, allowing a tip to be sent without separate procedures. If the call-recording function is activated, the content of voice calls with the scammer can also be easily submitted, potentially providing decisive evidence for criminal investigations.

Over a three-week pilot run of the emergency blocking system, the Integrated Response Team for Telecommunication Financial Fraud blocked 5,249 phone numbers out of 145,027 reports, excluding duplicate·mistaken reports and the like.

There was also a case where actual damage was dramatically prevented. According to police, a phishing number was blocked immediately upon the tip, and at that time the scammer was approaching another victim and demanding an authentication code. Along with the emergency blocking action, the call between the victim and the perpetrator was cut off immediately.

The agency explained that the system is designed to block only numbers that meet certain criteria, so it is very rare for a normal user to have their mobile phone blocked. It also plans to introduce AI to comprehensively check reports and patterns to reduce the possibility of mistaken blocking.

A police official said, “We will block the means of committing crimes more swiftly,” and added, “Malicious false reports or prank reports that are not simple mistakes are subject to criminal punishment, so please refrain.”