Fraudulent insurance claims rose 9.5 percent in terms of payments in the first half of this year, partly due to a rise in minor fraud by jobless people as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the economy, the financial regulator said Tuesday.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), insurance scammers took a record 452.6 billion won ($409.4 million) through wrongful filings during the January-June period, up from 39.2 billion won a year earlier.

The regulator detected 47,417 suspects in the six-month period, up 10 percent from a year earlier.

Although the number of insurance scams involving insurance brokers or agents fell, the number of minor scams involving jobless people, day laborers and restaurant workers increased, the FSS said.

Fraud involving non-life insurance accounted for 92.3 percent of the total false claims.

Fraudulent auto insurance claims amounted to 189.1 billion won, up 6.4 percent from a year ago.

The FSS has been intensifying its crackdown on insurance scams in cooperation with related state agencies, including the prosecution and police. (Yonhap)