She sent $93,000 before realizing the '3,000-won per like' gig was a scam

"Press 'like' on social media posts and earn 3,000 won per click." A person in their 30s, identified only as A, received what sounded like an easy gig. A was skeptical at first, but when a small payment actually arrived in the account, the guard came down. As A completed more tasks, the earnings shown on the site kept climbing. When A tried to withdraw the accumulated balance, the scammers revealed their true intent. They said a certain amount would need to be deposited upfront before both the principal and earnings could be withdrawn. Puzzled but fixated on recovering the large sum displayed on the screen, A began sending money. The fraudsters then applied psychological pressure, warning that stopping now would mean losing the principal as well. Gripped by fear, A ultimately wired a total of 142 million won (about $93,000) across 12 transactions before realizing it had been a scam.

Variants of financial fraud — including app-task scams and fake procurement schemes — are proliferating. These new methods share a common playbook: establish trust first by making small payments or presenting convincing forged documents, then strike once suspicion has turned to confidence.

Toss Bank published its findings Friday in the "Toss Bank Financial Fraud Prevention Report Vol. 4," which analyzes these emerging fraud types.

According to the report, low-barrier tasks such as "writing reviews" or "watching videos" — targeted particularly at young people — are deliberately designed that way. The lower the entry threshold, the less guarded potential victims tend to be. Once initial trust is established, fraudsters escalate their demands, repeatedly pushing for larger upfront deposits under pretexts such as "team missions" or "group purchases." They then layer on increasingly strict withdrawal conditions, trapping victims in a cycle of thinking, "Just one more payment and I'll get my money back."

Small-business owners are being targeted through a separate scheme in which scammers impersonate public institutions to solicit advance payments or fake procurement deals. Exploiting the widespread belief that public enterprises and government agencies do not commit fraud, the scammers present realistic transaction schedules and forged documents to build credibility before asking victims to "pay a designated supplier's invoice on our behalf." The deposit account is held in a third party's name rather than the institution's, but the scammers emphasize same-day processing to short-circuit rational judgment.

Financial fraud cases reported to Toss Bank show that losses from these new schemes typically begin in the millions of won, with individual cases frequently exceeding 100 million won.

In practice, the spread of new-method scams among fraud cases reported to Toss Bank in the first half of this year has been striking. The share of new-method fraud stood at 48 percent in January, then soared to 66 percent by March in just two months. It pulled back to 50 percent in April, but still accounts for roughly half of all fraud cases, and the trend has continued through June.

"Review scams build trust by paying small amounts upfront, while procurement scams paralyze judgment by exploiting the credibility of public institutions and the urgency of contracts," a Toss Bank financial fraud response team official said. "Both types are particularly dangerous because victims are deceived by the scammers' elaborate staging into convincing themselves the situation is legitimate and sending money of their own accord." The official added: "Whether it is a job offer or a business proposal, the moment anyone asks you to make an upfront payment for any reason, stop immediately and contact the Financial Supervisory Service or your financial institution."