Gyeonggi Province Exposes Fake Website Luring Citizens with Second Disaster Basic Income Scheme

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] As Gyeonggi Province is set to begin applications for the "Second Disaster Basic Income" scheme on February 1st, which will distribute 100,000 won per person to all residents to overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19, a fake application website that requests phone numbers and steals money through micro-payment methods has been discovered, prompting the province to take active measures.

The province stated that aside from the "Second Gyeonggi Province Disaster Basic Income Application Homepage (basicincome.gg.go.kr)," no other websites are providing guidance on the second disaster basic income or authenticating Gyeonggi residents, urging extra caution against accessing internet addresses (URLs) from unclear sources.

According to the Gyeonggi Province on the 31st, the province discovered the fake disaster basic income website through a citizen's phone report around 6 p.m. on the 29th and took immediate action.

The site appeared when searching for keywords such as "Second Disaster Basic Income Application Method Guide," and accessing it automatically installed malicious code. When users entered their mobile phone number to facilitate deposit of disaster basic income, micro-payments were charged without the user's knowledge. The person who reported it is known to have avoided damage by suspecting it was a fake site.

After receiving the report, Gyeonggi Province immediately requested measures from portal site Daum and completed deletion. Even after deletion, the province continued to monitor fake guidance sites, discovered 13 additional sites, and forwarded them to portal sites for deletion.

Accordingly, the province announced the Gyeonggi Province Disaster Basic Income homepage address (basicincome.gg.go.kr) through the provincial website and Gyeonggi Province social media channels to prevent additional damage cases. Additionally, the province strengthened monitoring of internet cafes, blogs, and social media channels outside of portal sites. As of the 31st, no damage cases have been reported.

The province requested portal sites including Naver and Daum to not only search for fake sites generated with Gyeonggi Province disaster basic income keywords but also to implement automatic blocking measures upon discovery. The province plans to take stern measures by requesting police investigations upon detecting fake sites.

Lee Sung-ho, Gyeonggi Province's head of public relations and planning, said, "Recently, as some credit card companies have sent text messages related to the Gyeonggi Province second disaster basic income, the number of visitors to the Gyeonggi Province website has surged, showing significant interest in the disaster basic income. We will conduct thorough monitoring to prevent residents from suffering damage due to fake sites exploiting this interest."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Province second disaster basic income will be distributed through three methods—online application, on-site collection, and visiting application service—to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and reduce inconvenience to residents.

Starting February 1st, residents can conveniently apply online by selecting either their existing Gyeonggi regional currency card or one of 12 commercial credit card companies. By accessing the "Gyeonggi Province Disaster Basic Income Application Homepage," authenticating as a Gyeonggi resident, and selecting a card company to receive the disaster basic income, the disaster basic income can be used with all cards from the selected card company.