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| Clients queue in a long line to obtain reissued cards or have their existing cards revoked at the Lotte Card Center in the Lotte Department Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, Tuesday. A note reads: "Customers with waiting numbers from 300 to 400 will have to wait about 4 hours." / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Firms inundated with customers looking for reissues, cancellations; websites out of order
By Nam Hyun-woo, Joel Lee
It had all the trappings of a major bank run except that few were withdrawing their money, and the lines that formed were outside credit card companies.
Hundreds, if not thousands, thronged to credit card firms Tuesday to get their cards reissued or cancelled.
In homes and offices, many more people were frustrated in front of computers, not being able to gain access to their accounts because of server overloads.
"I came here to get my card reissued," said a 65-year-old retiree, surnamed Lee, at the Lotte Card Center in the Lotte Department Store in Myeong-dong, Tuesday. Long lines of people waited their turn to speak to an agent, with another staff member trying to maintain order through a loudspeaker. Some said that it took seven hours for them to take care of their business.
"It's national chaos. The incident itself should never have occurred in the first place regardless of any excuses," Lee said.
The cardholders of three credit card firms hit hard by Korea's largest financial data theft case rushed Tuesday to cancel or reissue their customers' credit and debit cards.
Some 20 million people had information stolen from KB Kookmin Card, NH NongHyup Card and Lotte Card.
The data includes 19 items of personal information, including names, phone numbers, credit card numbers, card expiration dates and related bank accounts.
Customer centers of Lotte Card, and branches of KB Kookmin Bank and NH NongHyup Bank, the banking affiliates of KB and NH cards, were packed with clients. The three companies' telephone call centers and websites were also swamped with complaints.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the websites of the three companies, which provided information-leak verification services, remained difficult to access.
At the Lotte Center in Myeong-dong, a 45-year-old housewife said she was there to block use of her credit card because she couldn't verify the precise status of her personal information online and could not get through to any Lotte Card call centers.
Customers criticized the fact that Lotte Card has set up more lines for card-reissuing than cancellations, and its poor customer service was a reflection of how the company shows no signs of regret over the data leak.
Yoon, a 57-year-old teacher who visited the center to cancel her credit card, said, "I am highly disappointed with the customer service of Lotte Card. People who visit here in the afternoon are usually in their 50s and 60s, but the staff members, mostly in their 20s or 30s, are not helping us adequately.
"Lotte could have allocated more people from other departments to make up for the lack of staff here, instead of focusing on selling gift certificates for the Lunar New Year," she said.
Customers of the three card-issuers are concerned that their stolen information could be used in financial scams.
Song Seong-jun, 28, an employee at a construction company who uses NH NongHyup debit cards, expressed anger over the data-theft.
"I accessed NH NongHyup's website on Sunday and found out that all of 19 pieces of personal data were stolen. My card numbers were exposed and they might be used for making fabricated cards and other financial scams," he said. "Since I keep most of my money in NongHyup accounts, I have to cancel my cards, or at least get them reissued," he said.
Oh She-wook, a dentist, 26, showed frustration over the data leak. "I'm not even surprised over information leaks. My personal information was stolen in 2012 when micro-blogging website Cyworld leaked it.
"I have no account at or credit card from KB Kookmin Card, but the card firm said that my information was leaked due to banks' information-sharing," he said.
All 19 items of his personal information were found to have been stolen after he checked his NH NongHyup debit card. He said he called the NH call center, but was unable to speak with a staff member.
The size and damage of the data-theft went public Friday, after the prosecution said on Jan. 8 it had indicted an official of the Korea Credit Bureau (KCB), a Seoul-based private credit-evaluation service provider for financial firms, for stealing customer information from the databases of the three firms.
The official, identified by the surname Park, sold the data to an advertiser, and the information was used for marketing activities.
In reaction, a group of citizens plans to file a class-action suit requesting compensation from the three firms, as well as Park and the KCB.
According to lawyer Son Soo-ho, who will file on behalf of the victims, more than 500 clients have joined the class-action suit.
"I will decide the amount sought in the litigation settlement after discussions with the clients and comparing this with similar cases," Son said. He said will file the suit as early as the end of this month.
