The “Emergency Blocking System,” which blocks phone numbers used for crimes like voice phishing within 10 minutes, will be implemented starting November 24. Previously, it took more than two days after a report was filed to block such numbers. This considerable reduction in time is the result of collaboration between the National Police Agency, the three major telecom companies (SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus), and Samsung Electronics.
The National Police Agency developed a method to initially block phone numbers as soon as they access domestic telecom networks since all phishing calls and texts operate through these networks. Previously, the actual disconnection of phishing numbers took more than two days due to the Telecommunications Business Act, limiting rapid response capabilities.
With 75% of voice phishing crimes occurring within 24 hours after receiving the initial bait call or text, reducing the time to block these numbers was crucial. After an emergency block, the criminal will be unable to make calls or send bait messages from the blocked number, and even if a recipient tries to call back, the call will not connect. Temporarily blocked numbers will undergo further analysis before being fully disabled.
Since December of last year, the National Police Agency has worked with Samsung Electronics to add an “easy report” function to Samsung smartphones. Users can report suspicious texts or call records by long pressing the message or selecting the call history and pressing the “report as phishing” button to submit a report without any additional procedures. If call recording is active, users can also easily report voice communications with the scammer, providing crucial evidence for investigations.
Even for non-Samsung phones, anyone can report suspicious texts or calls on the dedicated website of the Integrated Response Center for Telecommunications Fraud. When the center requests a block after analyzing the reported numbers, telecom companies will immediately block those numbers for seven days.
During a three-week trial of the emergency blocking system, 5,249 phone numbers were blocked out of 145,027 reports, excluding duplicates and misidentifications. In one case, an immediate block of a loan scam number helped prevent further victimization, with the call between the scammer and the victim being cut instantly.
The police have also established criteria and measures to address misreported or erroneously filed reports. They plan to block only numbers meeting specific criteria, reducing the chance that legitimate users will be affected.
To prevent emergency blocks based on incorrect reports, the National Police Agency will maintain a “whitelist,” managing this proactively with dedicated personnel to decide on blocking. In the future, artificial intelligence (AI) will be introduced to cross-check reports and patterns, minimizing the possibility of erroneous blocking.
A police representative stated that the emergency blocking system aims to quickly disable the means of committing crimes and warned against malicious false reports or prank reports, which could lead to criminal prosecution.