Scams Exploiting Bithumb Overpayments Surge as Financial Supervisory Service Issues Consumer Alert

▲ Bithumb Korean BI ©

Financial authorities have issued a strong warning against smishing scams exploiting Bithumb’s erroneous payment incident, stating that any compensation notice containing a URL is “100% fraudulent.”

On the 12th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a consumer alert at the “caution” level, warning that internet address (URL) links impersonating individual notifications related to Bithumb compensation payments are being circulated. The FSS emphasized that Bithumb has not provided any individual guidance regarding compensation payments and will never include URLs in future customer notifications.

Authorities plan to ensure that Bithumb’s official notices exclude not only URLs but also banner links or app push functions with similar capabilities. Bithumb also intends to separately inform users about precautions related to smishing scams.

The FSS repeatedly urged consumers not to click on any message containing a URL link, stating that such messages are 100% fraudulent. In particular, messages containing phrases such as “compensation” or “damage inquiry” should first be suspected as smishing attempts. Users can verify whether a message is a smishing attempt through the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA)’s BohoNara service.

If a malicious app has already been installed after clicking a URL, users should immediately switch their phone to airplane mode and proceed with a reset, then report the damage to the police. If financial losses such as fund transfers have occurred, victims should request a payment suspension by contacting the financial institution where their account or the scammer’s account was opened, or by reporting to the Voice Phishing Integrated Response Center (112).

The FSS also recommended utilizing the “Personal Information Exposure Accident Prevention System” and the “Account-Wide Payment Suspension Service” to prevent further damage. Authorities stated they will closely monitor potential financial fraud related to Bithumb compensation payments and consider raising the consumer alert level if additional 피해 cases occur.

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