[News Today] Coupang-related phishing scams rampant

[LEAD]
With more than 30 million Coupang users' personal information leaked, a new wave of scams have stemmed from it. Criminals are exploiting the breach to lure people into installing malicious apps, saying a credit card has been issued with the leaked information. This is prompting urgent warnings for the public to stay alert.

[REPORT]
Since the massive data breach at Coupang, where 33.7 million pieces of personal information were leaked, multiple reports of phishing scams capitalizing on consumers' anxiety have been reported.

Most of them are fake card delivery scams combining the Coupang data leak and the existing credit card delivery fraud.

Voice phishing perpetrators impersonating couriers tell victims they will deliver their newly issued credit cards.

When the victims say they haven't applied for a new card, the scammers say that the card was apparently issued because of the Coupang data breach and that they need to check with a customer service center. Then they give them a fake phone number to contact.

When the victims dial the provided phone number, another scammer pretending to be customer service staff tells them to install an app to check if their phone is infected with malware.

This is done to steal the victims' personal information.

Authorities have also detected another method whereby victims are urged to click on a certain link because the delivery of their ordered items may be delayed or missing.

Police say no direct secondary damage has been confirmed so far, but they are receiving dozens of reports of phishing scams capitalizing on the Coupang incident daily.

The situation is even more concerning for people who are not very tech-savvy.

Prof. Kim Seung-joo / KU Security
Many Coupang users are seniors or have limited mobility. Attacking this group unfamiliar with IT will likely continue.

Police are focusing on blocking suspected phishing calls related to the Coupang incident and are urging the public not to click on any messages or links from unfamiliar phone numbers and delete them instead.

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