Korea Consumer Agency Analyzes 37 Cases of Damages
Clicking on Top Ad Links After Portal Searches
Logos and Chat Windows Highly Resemble Official Sites
#. Consumer Kang Dayoung (pseudonym) paid an annual subscription fee of 39,000 won in August for the "Gemmy AI" application, mistakenly believing it was Google's official "Gemini." However, after using it, she found that its Korean language recognition was poor and the AI often gave irrelevant answers. On the day of payment, Kang realized it was not Gemini and requested a refund, but received an email stating that a refund was not possible.
With the boom in generative artificial intelligence (AI) services such as ChatGPT, look-alike sites are proliferating, resulting in a growing number of consumer damages. The Korea Consumer Agency announced on December 15 that there have been 37 reported cases of such damages this year through the International Transaction Consumer Portal and the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center.
Among the 23 cases where the access route was confirmed, 91% (21 cases) involved consumers searching for the name of a generative AI service on portal sites such as Google and then clicking on an advertisement link displayed at the top of the search results, which led them to a look-alike site.
Most of these sites were operated overseas. They imitated the names and logos of well-known generative AI services such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to lure users into clicking. The main screens of these look-alike sites were nearly identical to those of the official generative AI sites.
The user interface (UI), including logos, menu layouts, and chat windows, was very similar to the official sites, and even the official model names such as GPT-4 were used, leading consumers to mistake them for the real sites. As a result, there have been numerous cases where consumers made paid subscriptions without suspicion.
However, in reality, the quality was significantly lower than the official services, and the AI often gave irrelevant answers. Analysis of the 37 reported cases revealed that in many instances, the operators did not respond at all to refund request emails. Furthermore, the refund policies of these sites often included unfavorable conditions for consumers, such as "refunds are only possible if fewer than 20 messages are sent within 7 days," making it practically impossible to obtain a refund.
The Korea Consumer Agency advised consumers to: ▲ always check the official website address and developer name when using AI services ▲ be aware that advertisement links displayed at the top of portal site search results such as Google may not be links to the official site ▲ and, when using overseas sites, use a credit card that allows for chargeback services in case of damages.
Chargeback refers to a service that allows consumers to request the cancellation of an approved credit card transaction within 120 days (VISA, MasterCard, AMEX) or 180 days (Union Pay) from the date of purchase. For information on the application deadline and process, consumers should contact their card issuer.
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