Fraudulent insurance claims increased 2 percent in terms of payments last year, partly due to a rise in minor fraud as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the economy, the financial regulator said.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, insurance cheaters took a record 898.6 billion won ($808.2 million) through wrongful filings last year, up 11.7 billion won from a year earlier.

The regulator identified 98,826 suspects in 2020, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier.

Fraud not involving life insurance accounted for 91.1 percent of the false claims. (Yonhap)