When your account is frozen after lending it to someone

If you received a payment suspension (지급정지) text, it means a report has been made that your account was used in a crime. Act in the order below.

• Contact the bank that suspended payments and find out when and because of which transaction
• Report the card and OTP device you handed over to the bank as lost or compromised, and change your passwords
• Save the texts, KakaoTalk messages, call logs and courier waybills exchanged with the other person
• Gather any business registration certificate, business card or loan information the other person sent you
• If you have been summoned by the police, check whether the offense is a violation of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act or extends to aiding fraud

Even if the other person offers to clear up the misunderstanding and asks for more verification codes or a photo of your ID, do not comply. Trying to withdraw money that came into your account, or sending it on to another account as instructed, makes the allegation heavier, as an accomplice to fraud.

Also avoid deleting your conversations because you feel wronged. Records of the other person impersonating a financial company show that you believed it was a genuine loan.

Borrowing an account in someone else's name because the account for your living expenses is frozen can create another problem. If your salary account is frozen, tell your employer and the bank and discuss what to do.

Transferring access media such as a debit card, password or certificate, lending them in exchange for a promised benefit, or lending them knowing they will be used in a crime is punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 30 million won (Electronic Financial Transactions Act (전자금융거래법) Article 49(4)).

The Supreme Court has held that the chance to get a loan can also count as a benefit (Supreme Court Decision 2017도16946, June 27, 2019). So questioning centres on what the other person promised to do for you, whether you were supposed to get the card back, and whether it was reasonable to believe it was a normal loan procedure. If you sent several cards or encouraged others to lend their accounts, brokering may also be an issue.

There is a procedure for objecting to a payment suspension. You show with objective materials that the account was not one used for fraud or that you received the money legitimately, and there is a deadline (Telecommunications Fraud Refund Act (통신사기피해환급법) Article 7), so check with the bank that notified you right away. However, it will not be accepted if you are found to have known it would be used for fraud or to have failed to know through gross negligence.

If you receive a fine for transferring or lending access media in connection with voice phishing, you may be designated as a person restricted from electronic financial transactions until 3 years have passed, or 5 years for a prison sentence (same Act, Article 13-2). This is why the aim at the investigation stage is a no-suspicion decision or a suspension of indictment (기소유예).

A managing partner sets out with you, using the chat records, how the card came to be handed over, and practises questions about benefits and awareness of the crime with you. We attend the questioning with you, and before the decision we submit a written opinion on why you believed it was a normal loan and other circumstances to be considered. If you received both a payment suspension text and a summons, send us a message through the chat on this page to ask for a consultation.