Gyeonggi Province Seeks Citizen Surveillance Unit Members to Eradicate 'Illegal Private Finance Advertising' Clouding Common People's Economy

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province is recruiting citizens until July 2 to participate in the '2021 Illegal Private Finance Citizen Surveillance Unit' to establish a fair common people's economy by eradicating illegal advertisements and related activities.

The 'Illegal Private Finance Citizen Surveillance Unit' is a project that has been promoted since 2019 to prevent damage to financially vulnerable groups caused by illegal private finance and to eradicate illegal advertisements causing inconvenience to citizens, working together with residents who are well-informed about local circumstances.

Last year, through the surveillance unit members' activities, the province collected 162,452 sheets of illegal private finance-related flyers and collected 797 phone numbers used for illegal private finance operations, which were subject to service suspension.

Through online monitoring, the province collected 7,128 pieces of suspected illegal finance advertising information being spread through social media (SNS) and other channels, and requested the Broadcasting and Communications Adjudication Committee to block and report them, contributing to early blocking of illegal private finance operations.

This year, the surveillance unit will conduct intensive monitoring activities against illegal private finance advertisements that indiscriminately distribute through online channels such as SNS and blogs, impersonating public institutions' private finance policies with slogans such as "Government-Supported Low-Interest Private Loans" and "Private Finance Support Applicant Recruitment," while collecting and reporting flyers randomly distributed on roads.

The province plans to conduct thorough investigations through the special prosecution unit regarding flyers and online advertisements that are reported and received, and if illegality is confirmed, will implement administrative measures and request the Ministry of Science and ICT to suspend phone number usage.

Particularly for illegal online advertisements, the province plans to refer them to the Broadcasting and Communications Adjudication Committee to eradicate illegal private finance operations through ad deletion, account termination, and access blocking.

The province plans to recruit approximately 150 surveillance unit members this year. The selected members will receive training and engage in activities from July to October, receiving a basic activity allowance of 50,000 won and additional performance incentive payments for collection and reporting.

Performance incentive payments for collection and reporting are 50 won per flyer sheet for offline materials and 2,000 won per case for online advertisements, with a maximum monthly payment of 210,000 won.

The recruitment period is from June 23 to July 2. Gyeonggi Province residents aged 19 to under 70 who are interested in illegal private finance prevention and are capable of using the internet and performing simple document work are eligible to participate.

Citizens wishing to participate can apply through the Gyeonggi Province Common People's Finance and Welfare Support Center (gcfwc.ggwf.or.kr) or Naver Form (naver.me/IG6feiOS).

Kim Do-hyung, head of the Regional Finance Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "This project aims to establish a tight surveillance network through public-private cooperation so that illegal private finance advertising cannot take root in Gyeonggi Province," and added, "We will continue to make active efforts to eradicate illegal private finance and establish a fair economy order."

Citizens who have suffered damage or witnessed cases of illegal loan company violations of the statutory maximum interest rate, illegal advertising, and illegal debt collection practices in the province can report to the Gyeonggi Province Illegal Private Finance Damage Report Center (www.gg.go.kr/, 031-120) or the Financial Services Commission (1332).