Since the start of 2026, reports of calls from people pretending to be immigration offices and their officials have kept coming in from many areas. The Ministry of Justice’s Korea Immigration Service (KIS) has made public cases reported in Seoul, Hwaseong, Jeju, Yeosu, Yangju, Sacheon, and other places, and has urged people to be careful.

International calls pretending to be the Seoul Immigration Office

According to a Ministry of Justice notice in September 2026, international calls starting with numbers such as 06- or 00682- play an automated voice message (ARS) like the following.

“The Seoul Immigration Bureau has notified you that there are important documents you have not yet received. For inquiries, press one for Korean or two for Chinese.”

If you press a number (1, 2, and so on), you are connected to an agent, and the agent tries to get your personal information.

Immigration offices across the country, including the Seoul Immigration Office, do not ask people by international call to submit documents or give personal information. If you get a call like this, do not press any number and hang up right away.

Demands to buy goods on behalf of people pretending to be officials

In June 2026, a person who said they were a staff member of the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center called a business, offered a large school meals contract, and then asked the business to buy food ingredients from a specific company and deliver them. The Ministry of Justice said that the detention center buys food ingredients only through companies selected by bidding through the Public Procurement Service (조달청), and does not make personal contracts.

You should also suspect fraud when someone shows a fake staff name, business card, or official letter, or offers to give you construction work or a purchasing job and asks you to pay on their behalf.

What to do about suspicious calls

  • If the caller asks you to send money, buy goods on their behalf, or pay in advance, suspect fraud.
  • Do not give your passport number, Alien Registration Number, bank account number, verification code, or card information.
  • Write down the caller’s name, organization, and phone number, and hang up.
  • Do not call back the number the caller gave you; check directly with the Immigration Contact Center at 1345 or the contact details of the agency on the Ministry of Justice website.
  • Do not believe someone is a real official just because of the caller ID or a business card.

Reporting harm

  • Integrated Voice Phishing Reporting and Response Center (보이스피싱 통합신고·대응센터): 1394, no area code needed
  • Korean National Police Agency: 112, no area code needed
  • If you sent money, contact 112 and the bank you sent the money from right away and ask them to suspend payments from the account.
  • You can also get counseling about voice phishing from the Financial Supervisory Service at 1332.
  • If you installed an app you do not know, do not do any financial transactions on that phone, and report it to 112 and your financial institution using a different phone. Do not just delete the app; ask your mobile carrier and financial institution to check your accounts and transaction history.

Contact

  • Immigration Contact Center: 1345 (Monday to Friday 09:00 to 22:00, except public holidays, charged call)

General ways to avoid voice phishing and text message fraud are also in Basic Financial Life in Korea: Accounts, Cards, Remittance, Savings, and Fraud Prevention.