15,000 Mobile Payment Complaints... Loopholes Exposed by KT Incident (Comprehensive)

Telecommunication Companies' Legal Obligation to Intervene Rendered Ineffective in Practice

Assemblywoman Lee Ju-hee: "Telecommunication Companies Only Pocket Fees, Evade Responsibility"

Amidst KT's announcement that it will not claim the full amount of recent unauthorized mobile payment damages, calls are growing for an overhaul of the practice where telecommunication companies distance themselves and only profit from fees in consumer disputes surrounding mobile payments.

While authorities and KT[030200] have taken proactive measures to prevent financial losses in this incident, which garnered significant public attention due to a novel method involving fake base stations, preventing payments in past or future similar cases still remains a struggle for consumers.

Ms. K told Yonhap News on the 12th that she received a text message in 2021 stating that 594,000 won had been charged to her Google Store account for game items she had not purchased. When she contacted KT, she was repeatedly told that cancellations were only possible through Google.

Frustrated, she personally reviewed the law and found Article 58 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., which states, "When a telecommunications payment service is provided against one's will, the service user may request correction from the service provider. However, this does not apply in cases of the user's intent or gross negligence." The service provider refers to the telecommunication company.

The law also stipulates that telecommunication companies must suspend payment if a user's telecommunication charges are incorrectly levied, preventing funds from being transferred to app store operators like Google or payment gateways (PGs).

Ms. K lamented, "I tried to report the unauthorized payment on Google's site as instructed by KT, but I couldn't get past the part where I had to enter the product serial number. Even as an office worker who uses a computer frequently, I struggled for over five hours. It's incredibly difficult to report damage through an app store."

She criticized, "When telecommunication companies receive requests for correction of unauthorized payments from users, they should intervene to prevent payment to app store operators or PGs, unless the damage is due to user negligence such as clicking malicious links. Instead, they shift all responsibility to the consumer. Given the high mobile payment fees, I suspect they are intentionally being passive."

KT Mobile Payment Damage Snowballs (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Jin-wook = According to the Cyber Investigation Division of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on the 10th, there were a total of 124 cases of KT mobile payment damage from the 27th of last month to 6 p.m. on the 9th of this month, with total damages estimated at approximately 80.6 million won.

It is strongly suspected that hackers used miniature base stations to intercept users' normal traffic and cause mobile payment damages. Given the possibility that the crimes were committed while moving with illegal base stations installed in vehicles, the scope and extent of the damage could further increase. The photo shows a KT branch in Seoul on the 10th. 2025.9.10 cityboy@yna.co.kr

Ms. K, recalling a similar incident from four years ago due to the recent unauthorized KT mobile payments, re-contacted relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission.

However, she expressed her frustration at being told that telecommunication companies are not the entities responsible for correcting user charges under the Information and Communications Network Act, but rather that the responsibility lies with gift certificate vendors and app stores.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT to Assemblywoman Lee Ju-hee (Democratic Party), a member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, the mobile payment market size last year was 6.6938 trillion won, with 15,044 related complaints filed.

The reasons for the complaints included payments made against users' will due to deception by service providers or user misjudgment, underage payments, and payments suspected of identity theft due to smishing, hacking, or fraud.

Assemblywoman Lee stated, "We must rectify the behavior of telecommunication companies in the mobile payment market, which generates enormous revenue, where they only profit and ignore the flood of customer complaints."

Authorities explained that in cases where users wish to suspend payment due to unauthorized mobile payments, it is difficult to institutionalize relief from telecommunication companies for all situations, as some instances involve user errors such as clicking malicious links or installing malicious apps after being targeted by smishing or voice phishing attacks.

They added, however, that efforts are being made to minimize smishing and phishing crimes by utilizing advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Meanwhile, when asked by Assemblywoman Hwang Jeong-ah (Democratic Party) of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee to provide the number of mobile payment users and the total transaction amount for the ten days from the 27th of last month, which is presumed to be when the unauthorized mobile payment incidents occurred most frequently, KT responded on the 10th that they are managing data monthly and cannot extract the exact current status.

Assemblywoman Hwang criticized this response, stating, "It is absurd that KT claims to have an estimated 278 cases of suspicious mobile payments on their own, yet cannot provide the overall mobile transaction status because it is managed monthly."