Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Coupang users concerned about possible voice phishing after data breach
Rights group representatives call for compensation and stronger prevention measures over Coupang’s customer data breach. Tuesday. Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
When the news broke that over 33 million Coupang customers’ personal information was leaked, including names, addresses, phone numbers and their recent purchase histories — Kim Joo-young, 40, an office worker in Seoul, checked her phone immediately to change her passwords.
“It felt like someone could somehow just take everything from me, including my deposits in bank and brokerage accounts without me knowing,” she said. “I thought voice phishing was something I only hear on the news, but the Coupang incident taught me this is no joke and that it could happen to anyone. And that anyone could very well be me.”
On Saturday, a day after the leak was reported, she received a text claiming her “recent parcel could not be delivered.”
Normally, she would have ignored it. But when the whole country is talking about leaked addresses and purchases, that message suddenly felt like a threat she couldn’t brush off.
“I was extremely careful not to click on the link attached by mistake. In the past, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but at that moment, I was gripped by fear that I could be the next victim who would regret being careless later. I will pay extra caution when I go over messages from now on," Kim said.
Similarly, Park Min-soo, 40, an office worker, said he received a phone call from someone claiming to be a Coupang courier serviceperson, telling him there was a “problem with a recent purchase.”
He has not ordered anything recently, but he knew his wife did. The caller described the women’s clothing item precisely.
“For a moment, I just thought my wife must have bought something on Coupang app using my ID. But then I suddenly had this strange feeling, something's off. I said I have no idea what the caller was talking about and just hung up,” he said.
Park said he was right to be cautious since he had received a couple of voice phishing messages in the past. “The message sender called me dad, asking me to send money to the account attached. I don’t have children. I laughed it off then. But this time it was different, because I do have a wife. I’m thinking I won’t take calls from unknown numbers for now.”
These are among the tens of millions of Coupang users increasingly worried about voice phishing scams tied to their personal information Coupang leaked.
The leaked information includes details that scammers can easily use, enabling them to come up with messages convincing enough for the recipient to click on.
Examples include “We were not able to deliver your items. Please contact us to verify your address,” or “We will give you a refund. Download the file or link attached.”
On Monday, the government issued a consumer alert, warning that criminals are likely to trick victims into entering their financial information through messages about refunds or compensation.