The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Monday that it signed an agreement with three financial industry associations and South Korean welfare organization Good Neighbors to help about 200 victims recover from financial losses and psychological trauma.
The program, running from November through October 2027, is open to people who were victims of voice phishing scams in 2024 or later and whose household income is no more than 150 percent of the national median income.
Those eligible will initially receive up to 1 million won in emergency living expenses, followed by another 1 million won after completing six counseling sessions. Total cash assistance cannot exceed the amount lost to fraud.
The program also offers professional counseling, with referrals to hospitals for victims requiring intensive trauma treatment. Applications will open on Nov. 23 through Good Neighbors.
The initiative comes as the FSS warns that voice phishing scams are increasingly causing psychological harm among victims.
In some cases, scammers impersonate prosecutors or financial regulators and pressure victims into isolating themselves in hotels or other accommodations, cutting off contact with others and controlling their daily lives for days or even weeks.
Despite these increasingly coercive tactics, reported voice phishing cases fell 61.0 percent from a year earlier to 7,033 in the first half of 2026, while financial losses dropped 52.3 percent to 327.6 billion won, according to the FSS.
The regulator said the program aims to help victims recover and return to their daily lives, rather than focusing solely on fraud prevention and recovering stolen funds.
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