The government and telecom operators are beefing up their efforts to protect users from unwanted spam text messages or phishing, an attempt to acquire personal information by masquerading as a trustworthy entity.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said earlier this month it would implement measures to prevent spam messages and develop a mobile application to block phishing messages in October.

“The majority of text messages that are sent by online users, not by phone users, are spam messages. Online users can send text messages in bulk and manipulate senders’ numbers,” the ministry’s telecommunications policy bureau official Park Sihye-woong said.

“We will offer a mobile application which will mark messages sent online as such, and directly store them on the mobile application instead of the phone’s message inbox. This can be a wake-up call for users.”

For sure, users can personally configure the setting if there are certain messages they should receive, he said.

Telecom operators SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus also provide mobile applications to their subscribers to block phishing messages. SK Telecom said its T-Guard application detects malicious codes in advance to prevent personal information leakage. KT’s Olleh phishing prevention application blocks users from visiting websites verified as phishing sites, and LG Uplus developed a mobile application that prevents involuntary mobile payments.

The state-run Korea Internet & Security Agency operates an illegal-spam response center where users can report spam messages.

The agency then filters the spam messages and sends them to organizations with authorities to investigate. “Not all spam messages we receive are illegitimate. However, marketing messages without users’ consent or from unregistered financial lenders are certainly considered illegal,” KISA’s spam response team manager Kim Young-jick said.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)