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Example screen of KakaoTalk’s ‘Fake Signal’. Provided by Kakao
In KakaoTalk, accounts suspected of impersonation or fraud will display a ‘warning’ sign.
Kakao announced on the 14th that they have introduced a new feature called ‘Fake Signal’ on KakaoTalk to prevent impersonation, fraud, and phishing crimes and proactively protect users. The Fake Signal feature is applied to users who have updated KakaoTalk to the latest version (v11.0.0).
Using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other technologies, Fake Signal automatically detects profiles with a high possibility of impersonation by analyzing KakaoTalk profile information, account details, and usage history. It displays a warning sign on profile images suspected of impersonating organizations or others, and when users attempt to add a suspicious account as a friend or initiate a conversation, a warning pop-up message alerts them. Additionally, it provides guidance on immediately blocking and reporting suspicious accounts along with the warning message.
Kakao has revamped its system related to ‘phishing and fraud alert functions’, elevating ‘Talk Siren’ as the overarching brand for phishing and fraud crime awareness functions and categorizing related alert functions such as Fake Signal under subcategories to organize them. The strengthened sanctions policy for ‘illegal leading rooms’, which was announced last month, is also set to be enforced starting from this day.
A Kakao official stated, “As methods of fraud and phishing through impersonation become more diverse, and the targets of impersonation expand from celebrities and institutions to ordinary individuals, we have applied Fake Signal to ensure users can stay vigilant.”