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AI Voice Phishing Prevention Evolution: Innovative Security Solutions from Korean Telecom Giants and Samsung

Updated: Nov 17

South Korean telecommunications companies are significantly strengthening their AI-based voice phishing and spam blocking services as voice phishing crimes surge nationwide. With voice phishing damages reaching 311.6 billion won in the first quarter of 2025 alone—a 2.2-fold increase compared to the same period last year—telecom operators are moving beyond traditional passive blocking methods to implement proactive security solutions through real-time AI analysis.


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Escalating Voice Phishing Threats


Voice phishing crimes in South Korea continue to rise dramatically. Between 2018 and 2022, a total of 227,126 phishing scams were reported, causing damages of 1.66 trillion won. In 2023, damages increased for the first time in four years, reaching 19.5 billion won, and in the first quarter of 2025, 5,878 cases were reported—a 17% increase from the previous year.


Criminal methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Scammers impersonating government agencies account for 51% of all cases, with victims aged 50 and older comprising 53% of the total. Recently, new techniques utilizing AI deepfake voice technology have emerged, making traditional phone number-based blocking insufficient.


Government Regulatory Strengthening


The government has implemented robust countermeasures against voice phishing crimes1. In 2020, prosecutors enforced strengthened punishment guidelines that allow for maximum life imprisonment sentences for voice phishing organization leaders. In 2023, South Korea developed the world's first AI-based voice data analysis model capable of tracking criminal voice patterns and clustering criminal organizations, improving accuracy by 77% compared to existing models.


The Korea Communications Commission and Financial Services Commission are requiring telecommunications companies and financial institutions to strengthen damage prevention obligations, expanding telecom operators' responsibilities beyond mere network provision to include user protection.



AI-Based Security Services from Korea's Big 3 Telecom Companies


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KT - AI Voice Phishing Detection and Notification Service


KT commercialized its AI-based voice phishing detection and notification service in January 20251. This service applies cutting-edge voice recognition and natural language processing technologies to learn and precisely detect specific keywords or patterns frequently used in voice phishing crimes.


The service analyzes call content in real-time to determine voice phishing possibilities and immediately alerts customers while blocking calls—a proactive security solution1. It can respond to various types of voice phishing schemes, including financial institution impersonation and personal information requests, and is available for download by anyone using Samsung Electronics devices regardless of their telecommunications provider.


LG Uplus - ixi-O


LG Uplus launched its AI call service "ixi-O" in November 20241. Exio provides phone reception, visible calls, real-time voice phishing detection, call recording, and summary functions in an "on-device" environment without going through servers.


The most representative function is call answering, where AI answers calls and leaves notes like a secretary when important calls come in during crucial conversations1. It also provides visible call functionality where AI seamlessly displays text and summarizes content when call quality is poor in places like subways.


SK Telecom - A. (A dot)


SK Telecom expanded its personalized AI personal assistant "A." call-related features to Android device users in April 20241. A. provides not only basic AI-based phone features such as call recording and call summary but also "A. Call Translator," a real-time call interpretation service.


To strengthen protection against spam and phishing calls, SK Telecom added "AI Spam Indicator" to A.'s call service1. This feature helps users recognize spam calls by displaying spam ratings—such as phishing alert, spam alert, and suspected spam—when receiving calls from unknown numbers.


Samsung Smart Call Hiya Service


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Samsung Electronics provides AI-based spam and voice phishing protection features to Galaxy smartphone users through an exclusive partnership with Hiya. Hiya's "Adaptive AI" technology observes patterns left by spammers in network traffic and adapts in real-time to block them without requiring human retraining or historical data.


This technology can detect 20% more spam calls than existing number-based technologies on the market, even when spammers change their phone numbers, carriers, or call paths. Currently applied to devices with One UI 7.0, including the Galaxy S25 series, Z Fold6, and Z Flip6, the user base is expected to grow through continuous updates.


Key Features:


  • Caller ID Display: Provides caller information even for numbers not saved in contacts


  • Spam and Fraud Call Detection: Real-time identification and blocking through AI-based analysis


  • Business Caller Identification: Displays company names, logos, and call purposes for registered businesses



Technological Innovation and Future Outlook

South Korea has established itself as a global leader in voice phishing response technology. The AI-based voice data analysis model developed in 2023 was trained using approximately one million voice data samples from about 6,000 domestic and foreign speakers and underwent verification using over 12,000 voice data samples, including actual voices of voice phishing criminals.


Telecom companies' AI-based security services are evolving beyond simple number blocking to enable real-time call content analysis, behavioral pattern-based detection, and even deepfake voice identification. These technological advances serve as crucial defense mechanisms against increasing voice phishing threats and are expected to provide users with a safer communication environment.


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