Financial watchdog warns of gift card loan scam

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has issued a consumer alert, warning of a sophisticated new voice phishing scam that uses gift cards to launder illicit funds.

The scam targets individuals with low credit scores, posing as financial institution employees. Scammers offer loans but instruct victims to first purchase gift cards from large discount stores. This is presented as a way to build credit history, but it serves to launder money.

Victims are often tricked into handing over their bank accounts or debit cards, which are then used by the criminals to receive funds from other victims. The scammers then convert the purchased gift cards into cash, which is subsequently exchanged for virtual assets and sent overseas. The FSS emphasizes that any offer linking loan eligibility to the purchase of high-liquidity items like gift cards, precious metals, or foreign currency is unequivocally fraudulent.