Chinese National Included as Suspect
Threatening Email Sent to Customer Service
On December 1, the police stated that they would "investigate if necessary" in connection with allegations that Coupang concealed or downplayed the personal information leak incident.
An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said at a regular press briefing that day, "We also plan to investigate technical vulnerabilities and related issues at Coupang."
While suspicions have been raised that an employee of Chinese nationality who previously worked at Coupang leaked customer information, the police remain cautious. A police official stated, "The police have never confirmed the involvement of a Chinese national," and added, "We are investigating with the individual included as a suspect."
Regarding the threatening email Coupang received, which stated that leaked information would be made public, the police said, "It is true that an email was sent to the Coupang customer service email account on the 25th of last month," and added, "We are investigating the route through which it was sent."
The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency began a preliminary inquiry into the Coupang personal information leak case on the 21st and converted it into a formal investigation after receiving Coupang's complaint on the 25th.
In its complaint, Coupang requested that an "unidentified individual" be investigated on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act by unlawfully accessing the information and communications network.
Previously, when Coupang first reported the incident on the 19th, it identified that customer names, emails, and addresses had been leaked from 4,536 accounts. However, during the investigation, it was confirmed that the scale of the leak had expanded to 33.79 million accounts.
Coupang explained that information such as customer names, email addresses, and data entered in the delivery address book was leaked, but payment information and login credentials were not among the compromised data.
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