As the number of people who signed up for credit cards that offer discounts and rewards when paying on the e-commerce company Coupang is estimated at at least several million, concerns are growing about secondary damage such as voice phishing and smishing using stolen personal information.
Of the top 100 popular credit cards tallied by the credit card platform CardGorilla on the 3rd, 27 cards explicitly stated they offer discounts or rewards when paying on Coupang.
The most popular card is the "Coupang Wow Card," known as a Coupang-only card. It is a product launched in Oct. 2023 by KB Kookmin Card and Coupang, and offers up to 4% in Coupang Cash rewards when paying on Coupang, Coupang Eats, and Coupang Play. Hyundai Card's "Hyundai Card M" offers up to 5% in points, and Shinhan Card's "Mr. Life" (Mr.Life) offers up to 10% in discounts.
If it is confirmed that even the credit card number and security code (CVC) used for payment were leaked, the fallout will be uncontrollable. The Coupang Wow Card was issued to 2 million people as of September, two years after its launch, and subscribers to Hyundai Card M, launched more than 20 years ago, reached 8.96 million as of 2023. Mr.Life, which ranks among the most popular cards every year, marks its 10th year this year. Even considering many duplicate issuances and unused cards, it is highly likely that several million people registered their cards for Coupang's easy payment and used them.
Coupang said there has been no confirmation of a leak of payment information such as card numbers and CVCs, but the Financial Supervisory Service judged Coupang's claim unreliable and has launched an on-site inspection of Coupang's easy payment subsidiary Coupang Pay to investigate whether payment information was leaked.
There are also concerns about voice phishing and smishing targeting holders of Coupang co-branded cards. Using already stolen customer names and phone numbers, scammers induce identity verification by claiming there is a problem with a Coupang co-branded card and then steal money. The financial authorities issued a consumer alert on the 1st regarding the Coupang situation and said, "Never click on the internet address in a text message from an unclear sender; delete it."
The card industry is strengthening abnormal transaction monitoring, saying growing consumer anxiety could lead to card cancellations. At Lotte Card, where the personal information of 2.97 million members was leaked, the number of cancellations in September was 160,000, 2.5 times higher than the previous month's 67,000.