In a significant move to combat voice phishing scams, South Korea's financial regulatory bodies have introduced a standardized system for managing withdrawal delays across all domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. This new framework eliminates the discretion previously allowed to exchanges in handling withdrawal exceptions, instead implementing a strict, unified approach based on account history, transaction patterns, and sudden behavioral changes. According to local reports, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service announced these measures to counter the rising tide of phishing scams that exploit fast transaction speeds. Historically, exchanges had their own rules for exceptions, which fraudsters would study and use to coach victims on how to bypass holding periods.
Voice phishing scams typically involve convincing victims to quickly convert money into cryptocurrency and transfer it, a process that can be interrupted by even brief delays, giving victims a chance to reconsider or allowing for alerts to be triggered before funds are transferred. The new system aims to minimize such scams by applying uniform criteria for reviewing withdrawal exceptions, with officials anticipating that less than 1% of users will be eligible for immediate withdrawals. Furthermore, exchanges are required to enhance identity verification processes and closely monitor fund movements. This shift from industry-led security measures to a nationally standardized approach is noteworthy, especially when compared to markets like the U.S.
and Europe, where withdrawal holds are common but determined by individual companies, and some exchanges even offer users the option to set personal timelocks to prevent unauthorized withdrawals. At the time of this report, the South Korean regulators had not provided additional comments in response to requests.