Seoul: Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon on Friday called on the country’s three leading mobile carriers to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to protect their customers from digital scams. Bae met with representatives from SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus Corp. amid the public’s growing concerns over such crimes despite the government’s preventive efforts, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

According to Lao News Agency, Bae emphasized that if the government and businesses join forces by harnessing AI technologies as a strong shield against digital crimes, voice phishing scams could be eradicated. He urged mobile carriers to continue advancing their prevention systems and increase efforts to raise public awareness of these measures.

The Republic of Korea has been intensifying its efforts to prevent digital crimes since last year, implementing stronger identity verification procedures when activating a mobile phone and notifying users when a text is sent from overseas.

During the meeting, SK Telecom revealed that the company is automatically blocking numbers involved in scams in cooperation with the police. The country’s top mobile carrier is also detecting scam text messages through its AI security system and warning users of suspicious incoming calls. Additionally, SK Telecom is preparing to launch a system to detect AI-generated voices.

KT, the second-largest player, announced the launch of a system to detect voice phishing attempts during calls by tracking conversation contexts and identifying deepfake voices. KT aims to detect 95 percent of voice phishing attempts, potentially preventing financial damage worth 200 billion won (US$144.5 million) this year alone.

LG Uplus stated that it analyzes users’ calls to alert them of suspicious activity and sends notifications if malicious apps are installed.