우리사회에서는 2006년 이후 ‘보이스 피싱’이라는 새로운 형태의 사기범죄가 의미심장하게 증가하고 있다. 하지만 이러한 전개가 어떠한 범죄학적 결과들을 낳을 것인지에 대한 학문적 규명은 거의 이루어지고 있지 못하다. 이 논문은 보이스피싱 피해사례(136건)와 검거된 사기집단(8개팀 50명)에 대한 사례분석을 통해 새로운 사기수법과 범죄집단의 조직화 방식 등을 파헤침으로써 전화금융사기의 진화적 형태의 윤곽을 제시하고 그 의미를 해석하려는 것이다. ‘보이스피싱’은 새로운 유형의 사기범죄이다. 보이스피싱 사기범죄는 가해자의 제의(기망행위)가 자신에게도 뭔가 이득을 안겨줄 것이라는 피해자의 ‘기대’ 착오에만 의존하지 않는다. 피해자가 피해를 당하는 것은 전적으로 가해자-피해자의 상호작용 과정에서 발생하는 ‘심리적인 강압’에 의해서이다. 보이스피싱 사기피해는 범죄자들이 사칭하는 전문기관의 권력과 전문성에 피해자들의 인지가 종속된 결과이다. 일반인들이 특정현상이나 문제들의 이해를 위해 전문가들에게 의존하는 경향이 심화됨에 따라 기망에 의한 인지적 착오의 가능성은 늘 상존해 있다. 보이스피싱 사기단은 국내조직과 해외조직의 이원화된 시스템을 갖추고 있고, 점조직으로 구성된 복잡하지만 느슨한 조직체계로 이루어지기 때문에 실체파악과 통제가 쉽지 않다. 보이스피싱 사기단은 중국 콜센터-국내 인출조직 뿐만 아니라 계좌모집 조직, 불법 환전·송금조직 등 다른 범죄조직과의 네트워크 형성을 통해 범행을 전개한다. 보이스피싱 문제의 효과적 대응을 위해서는 상황적 범죄예방 전략들을 통해 범죄기회의 사전 차단에 주력해야 하고, 다기관 협력과 파트너십의 형성을 통해 조기에 대응해야 하며, 피해를 예방할 수 있는 정보제공뿐만 아니라 피해의 조속한 회복에도 노력하는 피해자 지향적 접근이 요구된다.

New opportunities for crimes of fraud grew significantly since 2006 in Korea, but the criminological consequences of this development are poorly charted. We examine ‘voice phising’ defrauders who have stepped forward to exploit one category of the new opportunities. Drawing from analysis with 8 fraud teams(50 criminal defrauders) and their 136 victims, we present a picture and interpretation of new type of tele-financial fraud, its pursuits, deceptive strategies, and how they organize their criminal networks. The victims of voice phising fraud are entirely cheated by the ‘psychological pressure’ that occurs in the process of interacting between offender and victim. Voice phising frauds are the result of victims’ cognitive subordination to the power and professionality of the special organizations such as the National Tax Service, telephone company, credit card companies which the defrauders represent themselves falsely to be. Today people are more inclined to rely upon experts for under- standing special problems. Then the possibility of cognitive error may still remain when common people receive a phone call from the high-pressure false official who gives them warning of their financial danger and recommends them to follow the instructions based on the untrue assertions or enticing claims. Because occasionally voice phishing defrauder groups have the domestic-abroad dualistic system and consist of the complicated but relaxed networks, it is very difficult to grasp and control their entity. The voice phising fraudsters commit a fraud with the functionally linked criminal families: Chinese call-center, organization of false bank account opening, account drawing team, and the market of illegal exchange-remittance. To ensure that we have an adequate supply of counter-measure to respond new fraud effectively, it is required to close off criminal opportunities through situational crime prevention strategies, to make a multi-disciplinary team of experts from both the public and private sectors, and to promote victim-oriented approach.

New opportunities for crimes of fraud grew significantly since 2006 in Korea, but the criminological consequences of this development are poorly charted. We examine ‘voice phising’ defrauders who have stepped forward to exploit one category of the new opportunities. Drawing from analysis with 8 fraud teams(50 criminal defrauders) and their 136 victims, we present a picture and interpretation of new type of tele-financial fraud, its pursuits, deceptive strategies, and how they organize their criminal networks. The victims of voice phising fraud are entirely cheated by the ‘psychological pressure’ that occurs in the process of interacting between offender and victim. Voice phising frauds are the result of victims’ cognitive subordination to the power and professionality of the special organizations such as the National Tax Service, telephone company, credit card companies which the defrauders represent themselves falsely to be. Today people are more inclined to rely upon experts for under- standing special problems. Then the possibility of cognitive error may still remain when common people receive a phone call from the high-pressure false official who gives them warning of their financial danger and recommends them to follow the instructions based on the untrue assertions or enticing claims. Because occasionally voice phishing defrauder groups have the domestic-abroad dualistic system and consist of the complicated but relaxed networks, it is very difficult to grasp and control their entity. The voice phising fraudsters commit a fraud with the functionally linked criminal families: Chinese call-center, organization of false bank account opening, account drawing team, and the market of illegal exchange-remittance. To ensure that we have an adequate supply of counter-measure to respond new fraud effectively, it is required to close off criminal opportunities through situational crime prevention strategies, to make a multi-disciplinary team of experts from both the public and private sectors, and to promote victim-oriented approach.

Voice Phising, Tele-financial Fraud, Cognitive Error, Situational Crime Prevention, Public/Private Partnership, Victim-oriented Approach