"After SKT Phone Went Dead, Budget Phone Activated Without My Knowledge... 50 Million Won Withdrawn"

Busan Man in His 60s Reports Financial Loss
Police Launch Investigation and Freeze Bank Account
SK Telecom: "Low Likelihood of SIM Information Leak Connection"

A man in his 60s living in Busan, who is an SK Telecom mobile phone user, suffered financial losses after a new phone line was activated without his knowledge and 50 million won was withdrawn from his bank account. The police have launched an investigation into the case.

According to a report by Yonhap News on April 28, the Busan Nambu Police Station received a complaint from the man, identified as Mr. A, in his 60s. According to the police and other sources, Mr. A discovered the incident on April 22, when his SK Telecom mobile phone suddenly stopped working and he visited a service center, where he learned about the unauthorized activity.

Mr. A found out that his SK Telecom contract had been terminated and that a new KT budget phone line had been activated under his name. On the same day, a total of 50 million won was transferred from Mr. A's account in five separate transactions of 10 million won each to an unknown recipient. Upon discovering this, Mr. A reported the incident to the police and requested a 'payment suspension' on his bank account.

On the 28th, customers waiting to replace their SIM cards visited an SK Telecom directly managed store in Mapo-gu, Seoul. SK Telecom plans to offer free SIM card replacement services to subscribers starting today. 2025.4.28. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

A police official stated, "The investigation is still in its early stages, so the details have not yet been confirmed," and added, "We plan to look into the unauthorized phone line activation process and the related bank transactions." While it is not yet clear whether this incident is connected to the SK Telecom SIM card information leak, SK Telecom maintains that the likelihood of an information leak is low. The company explained that personal identification numbers and authentication are required for financial transactions, and there is no evidence that such information was leaked in this hacking incident.

Meanwhile, on April 19, SK Telecom detected signs that a large amount of SIM card information belonging to SK Telecom subscribers had been leaked due to a hacker's malware attack. At a press conference on April 25, SK Telecom stated that there had been no actual damage from the hacking. Starting at 10 a.m. on April 28, the company began offering free SIM card replacements at approximately 2,600 SK Telecom service centers (T World stores) nationwide for customers who request it. The eligible customers are those who subscribed to SK Telecom's mobile service before midnight on April 18, prior to the implementation of system isolation and other protective measures following the security breach.

There is also a movement among subscribers to file a class-action lawsuit. Law firm Rojipsa announced, "We plan to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of subscribers who suffered damages from the recent SK Telecom SIM (USIM) information hacking incident."

Lee Jungyeop, the representative attorney at Rojipsa, stated, "We are currently accepting applications for the SK Telecom hacking class-action lawsuit through our own class-action platform and website," and emphasized, "This hacking incident resulted in the external leakage of SK Telecom subscribers' SIM card information. It is a serious personal information breach that could lead to secondary damages such as the activation of cloned phones, voice phishing, and financial fraud, and is unprecedented worldwide."

Attorney Lee added, "Until now, lenient penalties for personal information leaks have resulted in significant leaks that have led to damages such as voice phishing and illegal spam messages. Now, the situation has escalated to the point where cloned phones can be activated and hackers can conduct financial transactions using the leaked information. This is an issue that could affect national security, and we intend to pursue the strongest possible legal action with a sense of grave responsibility." Currently, a 'SK Telecom Personal Information Leak Class-Action Lawsuit Cafe' has been established on Naver. As of 4 p.m. on this day, the number of members had exceeded 25,000.