○ Recruitment of residents to participate in illegal private loan ad surveillance until July 2, 2021
○ Activities include surveillance and reporting of online and offline advertisements for illegal private loans
– Monitoring and collection of advertisements and data in relation illegal private loans via online channels, including social media and blogs
– Blocking of advertisements, suspension of telephone numbers, and other administrative measures to be imposed for illegal advertisements after special judicial police investigation

Until July 2, 2021, Gyeonggi Province will be recruiting residents to participate as “watchdogs” in illegal private loan ad surveillance with the aim of establishing a fair economic order through the eradication of illegal advertisements.

This initiative was launched in 2019 to prevent financial damage inflicted upon vulnerable social groups by illegal private loans and to eradicate illegal advertisements that cause resident inconvenience.

In 2020, through the surveillance resident program, Gyeonggi Province collected 162,452 illegal private loan flyers and suspended 797 telephone numbers used for illegal private loan activities.

In addition, 7,128 suspicious advertisements spread through social media were also identified through online monitoring and reported to the Korea Communications Standards Commission along with requests for the preemptive blocking of such contents.

These watchdog activities will continue this year, with surveillance residents working to collect and report illegal advertisements scattered along roads (business card-type flyers) and monitor illegal advertisements that lure financially vulnerable groups by masquerading as public services for low-income groups, such as “government-supported low-interest loans for low-income groups,” through online platforms including social media and blogs.

Gyeonggi Province will thoroughly inspect the reported advertisements through its special judicial police. Those confirmed to be illegal will be subjected to administrative measures and the associated telephone numbers suspended through official requests to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission will be asked to remove illegal online advertisements, suspend usage, and block access so as to eradicate promotional activities for illegal private loans.

Over 150 people will be recruited as surveillance residents this year. Those recruited will undergo training before undertaking their activities from July to October. They will receive a basic allowance of KRW 50,000 and additional rewards based upon their collection and reporting performance.

The collection and reporting of flyers and online advertisements will see compensation of KRW 50 per flyer and KRW 2,000 per case, respectively, up to a maximum of KRW 210,000 per month.

The recruiting period runs from June 23 to July 2. The program is open to all Gyeonggi residents between the ages of 19 and 70 who are interested in the prevention of illegal private loans and familiar with Internet use and document creation.

Those interested may apply via the Gyeonggi Province Seomin Financial Welfare Support Center website (gcfwc.ggwf.or.kr) or NAVER Form (naver.me/IG6feiOS).

Gyeonggi Province’s Regional Finance Director Kim Do-hyeong said, “This project aims to establish a surveillance system through public-private collaboration so as to eradicate illegal advertisements for private loans in Gyeonggi Province.” Kim added, “We will actively engage in eliminating illegal private loans and establishing a fair economic system.”

Residents who are or know of victims of loan companies that violate maximum interest rates, use illegal advertisements, or engage in illegal debt collection activities may report such incidents to the Gyeonggi Province Illegal Financing Reporting Center (www.gg.go.kr; 031-120) or the Financial Supervisory Service (1332).