Identity Theft Loan Debt Non-Existence Confirmation Cost Calculator

What is the Identity Theft Loan Debt Non-Existence Calculator?

When a stranger steals your ID or authentication credentials and takes out a loan in your name, you can ask a Korean court to confirm that the debt does not exist.
This lawsuit is called a debt non-existence confirmation action (채무부존재확인의 소). It lets you formally establish that you never entered into the loan.

This calculator estimates the case value, court stamp duty, and service fees for that lawsuit under 2026 Korean rules.
It also diagnoses your realistic chance of success based on the latest Supreme Court precedent and lays out a four-step response roadmap, from fraud-alert registration to criminal complaint, litigation, and credit recovery.

Korea-specific note: This English page is a simplified estimate based on Korean civil procedure, the Court Fees Act, and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act as in force in 2026.
It is not legal advice and does not replace lawyer review, court decisions, police notices, or case-specific evidence review.

Who needs this

• Victims of voice phishing or smishing whose identity was used for a non-face-to-face loan
• People who lost their ID card and later found unknown loans in their name
• People whose family or acquaintance took out a loan under their name without consent
• Victims of SIM-swapping or burner-phone identity takeover
• Anyone harmed by debt collection or credit-delinquency records from a fraudulent loan

How are the lawsuit costs calculated?

1. Case value (소가)

Under Article 12(1) of the Rules on Stamps in Civil Procedure, a confirmation action (including a negative confirmation action) is valued by the type of right at issue.
For a debt non-existence action, the case value is the principal of the disputed debt.

• Full non-existence: the entire fraudulent loan principal is the case value
• Partial non-existence: only the disputed portion is the case value
• Interest and late charges: excluded from the case value as ancillary claims (Civil Procedure Act Article 27(2))

2. Stamp duty (Court Fees Act Article 2)

The stamp duty is computed by case-value bracket.
If the result is below 1,000 won it becomes 1,000 won; otherwise amounts under 100 won are dropped.

Case value bracket	Stamp duty formula
Under 10 million won	value × 0.50%
10 million – 100 million	value × 0.45% + 5,000 won
100 million – 1 billion	value × 0.40% + 55,000 won
1 billion won or more	value × 0.35% + 555,000 won

Filing through the Korean electronic litigation system reduces the stamp duty by 10%, capped at 500,000 won.
For a 90 million won case value, the stamp duty is 90,000,000 × 0.45% + 5,000 = 410,000 won, or 369,000 won after the 41,000 won electronic discount.

3. Service fees (송달료)

Service fees equal the number of parties times the number of rounds times the unit price.
A first-instance civil case uses about 15 rounds, and the unit price is 5,500 won per round (effective June 1, 2025).

With one plaintiff and one defendant bank, that is 2 parties × 15 rounds × 5,500 won = 165,000 won.
Additional defendant financial institutions increase the party count.

4. Lawyer fees

Because these cases turn on the bank’s identity-verification procedure and the interpretation of electronic-document law, the facts are often complex.
A retainer varies with the case value, and the portion of attorney fees recoverable from the losing party is capped by a separate Supreme Court rule schedule.

The retainer figures here are estimates only and depend on case difficulty and the law firm.

What decides your chances — Supreme Court 2024Da236754

Identity theft does not automatically erase the debt.
Supreme Court Decision 2024Da236754, rendered on August 14, 2025, clarified when a non-face-to-face loan from identity theft is valid or void.

Facts of the case

The victim handed a scammer posing as her daughter a photo of her driver license, a bank account number, and its password, and installed a remote-control app.
Using that information, the scammer issued a joint certificate in the victim’s name and borrowed 90 million won from a savings bank through a non-face-to-face process.

The Supreme Court held that the bank’s identity-verification procedure was adequate, so the loan application could be treated as the victim’s own declaration of intent, and the loan contract was validly formed. The debt non-existence claim was therefore dismissed.

The key legal basis is Article 7(2)2 of the Framework Act on Electronic Documents and Transactions.
If the recipient (the bank) can reasonably believe the electronic document was sent by someone acting on the sender’s intent, the declaration is treated as the sender’s own.

However, under Article 7(3)2, this effect is excluded if the bank knew, or with reasonable care could have known, that the document was not the sender’s.
The Electronic Financial Transactions Act Article 9 also makes the financial institution liable for losses from forged or altered access media, unless the user acted with intent or gross negligence.

So the outcome hinges on two axes

• Degree of victim fault: providing an ID, certificate, or password, or installing a remote-control app, raises the risk that the loan is treated as valid.
• Defect in the bank’s verification: weak procedures such as missing video calls or two-factor checks, or failure to catch a forged ID, strengthen the non-existence claim.

This calculator scores those two axes from the theft type, your fault factors, and favorable factors such as bank negligence and police confirmation.

Step-by-step response

Step 1: Stop further damage immediately

Register with the Financial Supervisory Service personal-information exposure prevention system (pd.fss.or.kr) to block new loans, accounts, and cards opened through further identity theft.
Use the integrated account information service Account Info (payinfo.or.kr) to audit all loans and accounts in your name, then notify the lender and send a certified letter denying the debt.

Step 2: Criminal complaint and investigation

File a complaint with the police cybercrime reporting system (ECRM) or cyber investigation unit.
Applicable charges include forgery of private documents, use of forged documents, fraud, and violations of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act. Obtain an incident confirmation certificate as evidence.

Step 3: File the debt non-existence action

File the lawsuit at the competent district court.
If needed, add an injunction against collection or disposal of the loan claim, and argue that the loan contract is void or non-existent based on defects in the bank’s verification.

Step 4: Credit recovery

Once you win, erase the debt and delete delinquency records.
Register the identity-theft correction with the Korea Credit Information Services and the credit bureaus (NICE, KCB) to restore your score.

Scenarios

Voice-phishing non-face-to-face loan

Credentials were handed over and a remote-control app installed, leading to a 90 million won loan (the 2024Da236754 pattern).
Because victim fault is high, the success score is low, and the key is proving defects in the bank’s verification.

For a 90 million won case value, expect roughly 369,000 won stamp duty plus 165,000 won service fees, for about 534,000 won paid to the court.

Loan after a lost ID card

A stranger borrowed 50 million won using a lost ID card.
If you never provided credentials, police confirm the theft, and the bank verification was weak, the success score rises.

For a 50 million won case value, the electronic stamp duty is about 230,000 won plus 165,000 won service fees.

Unauthorized loan by family

A family member used your documents to take out a 30 million won loan.
Apparent authority under Civil Act Article 126 or later ratification can become the issue, so you must show there was no delegation or tacit approval.

Family cases also involve criminal-complaint decisions and relationship concerns, so judge carefully.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Does identity theft always mean the debt is void?

A. No.
As in Supreme Court 2024Da236754, if you provided credentials and the bank verification was adequate, the loan can be held valid. Proving bank defects and your non-involvement is essential.

Q. What should I do before filing?

A. Register with the exposure-prevention system to block new damage, and audit your loans through Account Info.
Then file a police complaint to obtain an incident certificate, send a certified letter denying the debt, and prepare the lawsuit.

Q. Are interest and late charges in the case value?

A. No.
Under Civil Procedure Act Article 27(2), ancillary claims such as interest and late charges are excluded, and the stamp duty is based on the principal.

Q. Does collection continue during the lawsuit?

A. While the debt non-existence action is pending, extinction of the claim and completion of the limitation period are blocked, and a winning judgment supports releasing any payment suspension and erasing the debt.
If collection or enforcement is a concern, you can add an injunction.

Q. Who pays the litigation costs?

A. In principle, the losing party.
If you win, you can claim stamp duty, service fees, and a capped portion of attorney fees from the other side, fixed through a separate cost-determination procedure.

Diagnose the loan taken out in your name

Enter the fraudulent debt principal and the identity-theft details to see the lawsuit cost, your chance of success, and the response steps at once.

Based on Korea’s 2026 Court Fees Act, Electronic Financial Transactions Act, and the latest Supreme Court precedent.

Legal scenario inputs

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