South Korea's FSS to Provide Up to 2 Million Won in Living Expenses and Counseling to ...

Voice phishing victims will receive up to 2 million won (approximately $1,500) in living expenses along with professional psychological counseling. South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on the 9th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Federation of Banks, the Credit Finance Association of Korea, the Korea Federation of Savings Banks, and social welfare foundation Good Neighbors to launch a pilot program to support voice phishing victims called "Back to Daily Life."

The core of the program is its two-stage support structure. Within a cap of 2 million won per victim, up to 1 million won (approximately $740) is paid first as emergency living expenses, and an additional 1 million won is provided once the victim completes all six professional counseling sessions through partner institutions nationwide. If the victim does not receive counseling or fails to complete six sessions, the second payment is not made. However, total living expense support cannot exceed the actual amount of losses.

Eligibility is limited to people who suffered voice phishing losses since 2024 and whose household income is at or below 150% of the median. The monthly income thresholds by household size are 3.846357 million won (approximately $2,900) for a single-person household, 6.298938 million won (approximately $4,700) for two people, 8.038554 million won (approximately $6,000) for three, and 9.742107 million won (approximately $7,200) for four. The FSS estimates the pilot program will serve 200 people.

Note: Total living expense support cannot exceed the actual amount of losses. Counseling costs are covered separately within a cap of 2 million won per person.

Counseling is conducted through partner institutions nationwide, and victims with severe trauma requiring intensive treatment are referred to hospitals capable of providing it. In such cases, counseling costs are covered separately from living expenses, within a cap of 2 million won per person.

Applications will be accepted starting on the 23rd at Good Neighbors offices. Applicants submit an application form, a confirmation of the incident, and documents proving median income, among other materials, and recipients are selected after review. The selection announcement is scheduled for the 24th of month. The program runs from this month through October year but may end early if the budget is exhausted. Victims who miss this month's application window can apply through the second to fifth rounds of intake, which run through April year.

The program is largely a response to voice phishing tactics that have evolved to psychologically dominate victims over extended periods. According to the FSS, scams that impersonate prosecutors or the FSS to instill fear, isolate victims in lodging facilities and cut them off from outside , then extract funds over days or weeks are spreading, and a growing number of victims suffer from guilt and anxiety separate from their financial losses.

Park Ji-sun, head of the FSS's Financial Consumer Protection Office, said, "Voice phishing causes not only financial loss but also guilt, anxiety, and fear of how others see them, and many victims endure it alone without even being able to tell anyone what happened." She added, "I hope this agreement serves as a sturdy stepping stone."

The FSS aims to broaden the scope of victim relief, which had focused on prevention and refunding losses, to include economic and psychological recovery. It also plans to expand the support program across the financial sector based on the pilot's results. Since the program was established with joint participation from the financial industry, the actual application rate and counseling completion rate are expected to serve as indicators of whether the program will be expanded.