Woori Bank to launch AI-based fraud monitoring system next month

Woori Bank holds press briefing on financial fraud prevention

President Jeong Jin-wan calls fraud prevention 'top management priority'

Generative AI to analyze new fraud patterns

Next-generation FDS combining AI and telecom data in the works

Woori Bank President Jeong Jin-wan speaks at a press briefing on financial fraud prevention held at the bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday. [Woori Bank]

Woori Bank will launch a generative AI-based monitoring system in November to proactively combat financial fraud, including voice phishing, and plans to build a next-generation fraud detection system combining AI with telecommunications data.

Woori Bank President Jeong Jin-wan said at a press briefing on financial fraud prevention held Monday at the bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, that preventing financial fraud is "a top management priority, as it means protecting not only customers' assets but also trust in the financial system."

Jeong added that the bank would "further strengthen its prevention framework to detect warning signs one step ahead — stopping customer funds from reaching fraudsters before any damage occurs, rather than simply providing relief after the fact."

To that end, Woori Bank plans to build out its capabilities across AI-based detection, a dedicated response team, and cooperation and education programs with external agencies, followed by standardizing detection and analysis operations, expanding its specialist workforce, and systematizing information sharing and reporting.

The generative AI monitoring system set to go live in November will go beyond repeatedly applying preset detection rules. It will analyze new types of financial fraud and anomalous patterns, and support the development of new detection scenarios and policies based on those findings.

Woori Bank also intends to combine generative AI with telecommunications data to accelerate its response to emerging fraud schemes. The bank plans to build a next-generation FDS that goes beyond the existing finance-transaction-centered framework by integrating login data, product usage data, and high-risk account information from ASAP, an AI platform for sharing and analyzing voice phishing data.

At Monday's briefing, Jeon Jae-hong, head of Woori Bank's financial fraud prevention division and a former police officer, outlined recent trends in financial fraud. The bank recently became the first in the banking sector to bring on a former police official as a specialist to strengthen its fraud-response expertise.

"As smartphones, social media and generative AI become part of everyday life, criminal methods are evolving rapidly," Jeon said. "At the same time, tracking criminal organizations based overseas requires international judicial cooperation and complex procedures, which means responses take time."

Jeon Jae-hong, head of Woori Bank's financial fraud prevention division, speaks at a press briefing on financial fraud prevention held at the bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday, outlining evolving fraud tactics and key prevention achievements. [Woori Bank]

Among the fraud schemes to watch, Jeon highlighted "pig butchering" scams — in which fraudsters approach victims through messaging apps and lure them into fake investments — and "recovery scams," where criminals target previous fraud victims by promising to recover their lost funds in exchange for additional payments. Financial authorities have enforced guidelines on temporary account suspension since June to minimize losses from new forms of phishing, including investment fraud and romance scams. Under the current Act on Special Cases Concerning the Prevention of Loss Caused by Telecommunications-Based Financial Fraud, financial institutions can immediately freeze suspicious accounts in voice phishing cases.

Woori Bank has been broadening its use of fraud-related intelligence through collaboration between its FDS and anti-money laundering (AML) units. From April through August this year, the FDS unit referred 639 cases of suspected money laundering and related activity to the AML division, of which 83 were filed as suspicious transaction reports after further analysis. During the same period, 664 suspicious accounts at other banks identified through AML analysis were shared across the entire financial sector via ASAP.

hyuk@heraldcorp.com