Civic Groups Report "280,000 Won Unauthorized Payment on Coupang"... Coupang Says "No Secondary Damage"

PSPD and Minbyun Urge Additional Government Investigation
Coupang: "Confirmed as a Legitimate Payment from the Same Device"
"We Will Hold Those Making Baseless Claims Accountable"

Civic groups have claimed that unauthorized payment damage cases have been reported in connection with Coupang's massive personal information leak and have urged the government to conduct an additional investigation, while Coupang has countered that "no secondary damage has been confirmed so far."

On February 23, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) announced that seven cases of unauthorized payment damage had been reported through the "Coupang Damage Report Center" (the Report Center), and that one of these cases had been referred to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for investigation. They explained that this one case was reported by an individual who requested an official investigation by law enforcement and submitted specific supporting evidence.

The groups operated the Report Center for one month, from December 4 last year to January 4 this year. According to the request for investigation they submitted to the police, a victim identified as Mr. Kim reported to the Report Center that at around 9:22 a.m. on December 27 last year, a radio-controlled airplane priced at 281,400 won was paid for with his credit card. Mr. Kim explained to the Center that he had been asleep at the time and therefore was not in a position to make the payment, and that he had no reason to purchase such an item.

In addition, six other reports were filed with the Report Center, including statements such as "A card used only on Coupang was repeatedly used 11 times for payments and cancellations on a foreign open market," and "An item I did not order was paid for and delivered." People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Minbyun said, "Coupang has notified victims that payment information such as card or account numbers and personal customs clearance codes were not leaked, and the government-private joint investigation report released on the 11th also stated that the investigation team found no evidence of payment information leakage," but added, "Nonetheless, the Report Center has received multiple reports of personal customs clearance code theft and unauthorized payments." They went on to say, "We are concerned that attempts to downplay the scale of Coupang's personal information leak may be going unnoticed," and urged "proper compensation from Coupang for the personal information leak incident and additional investigations into whether payment information was leaked."

In response, Coupang immediately issued a rebuttal statement, saying, "The case that People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Minbyun have referred to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has been confirmed as a legitimate payment made from the same device previously used by the customer for orders," and emphasized, "According to the findings of the government-private joint investigation team and security specialist firms, there was no leakage of payment information or passwords." Coupang added, "We express strong regret that, despite the absence of any confirmed secondary damage, baseless claims continue to be made, thereby stoking consumer anxiety," and continued, "We call for a swift police investigation into this case and will hold those who continue to make unfounded claims strictly accountable based on the facts."