Hana Bank's proactive response is drawing attention in the massive 'KReSIM' investment fraud case, where nationwide damages amount to hundreds of billions of won. Utilizing its in-house Financial Detection System (FDS), Hana Bank prevented approximately 1,450 cases of fraud and successfully blocked the outflow of customer assets totaling KRW 18.5 billion.

A Cunning Scheme Combining 'Ponzi Fraud and Multi-Level Marketing' The KReSIM investment fraud is a criminal scheme that lured investors under the guise of an eSIM sales business targeting foreign tourists, baiting them with promises of high returns and multi-level commissions. The perpetrators collected investment funds, then abruptly halted profit distributions and went into hiding. In particular, it took a complex form combining a so-called 'Ponzi scheme,' where returns to existing investors were paid using new investment funds, with a multi-level member recruitment structure. This made it extremely difficult for the financial sector to detect and block in advance, as victims often realized the fraud too late. To date, the number of victims is estimated at 20,000 to 30,000, with damages reaching hundreds of billions of won.

Dedicated Scenario Introduced in February… App Logins Also Blocked Amid these circumstances, Hana Bank swiftly established a response system in February of this year. The bank introduced a monitoring scenario into its in-house FDS that reflected the characteristic patterns of the KReSIM investment fraud. When a financial transaction is detected in a corporate account linked to KReSIM, this scenario immediately rejects transaction approval and forcibly blocks the installation and login of the mobile banking app, fundamentally preventing further outflow of funds. Additionally, the bank assigned dedicated staff to closely protect customers through means such as KakaoTalk notifications, implementing multifaceted preventive measures in parallel.

Continuous Efforts to Enhance AI-Based FDS Through these measures, Hana Bank successfully defended customer assets from the KReSIM fraud. Hana Bank was the first in the Korean financial sector to introduce an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based FDS in 2018, utilizing it to detect abnormal transactions such as voice phishing. The bank plans to continue training FDS specialists and enhancing the system to ensure maximum protection of customer assets.