This article was displayed on the ChosunBizRM Report website at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2025.
"Personal data is already floating around in China anyway, so we might as well make some money."
A post saying this was recently uploaded on the social media (SNS) platform X. The post read, "I signed up as a new user with my mom and dad's phones and made 200,000 won in a day," and included a link to download the Chinese application (app) "TikTok Lite."
As major corporations in Korea suffer a series of large-scale personal data leaks, people in their teens and 20s are turning to "sign-up rewards" offered by Chinese platforms to make cash. Despite warnings that using Chinese platforms is risky, the view is spreading that there is "nothing left to protect" after multiple data leaks.
◇ Using family names for 100,000-won points
On the 20th, online communities and SNS were filled with posts certifying that users received "points" they can spend like cash by signing up for Chinese platforms. TikTok Lite gives at least 30,000 won worth of points to both new users and inviters.
Recently, with stepped-up marketing, it is also running events that offer up to 100,000 won worth of points. The points paid out can be withdrawn as cash or exchanged for various coupons such as Starbucks and Baemin.
The fashion platform SHEIN offers about 74,000 won worth of points for new sign-ups. Temu advertises that it gives new users a bundle of discount coupons worth up to 150,000 won.
Users participating in reward-based marketing also actively recruit new sign-ups. That is because the inviter is rewarded as well. In the process, competition has emerged with pitches like "If you sign up with my link, I will add more money," and even methods of using family members' names to generate additional revenue are being shared.
Related posts are especially common in communities and on SNS used by teens and people in their 20s. In fact, users in their 20s account for 38.4% of X users, and those in their teens and younger account for 30.3%.
◇ After repeated personal data leaks, "let's at least make money"... use caution on security
It is not the first time that Chinese platforms have offered cash-like rewards. But distrust over personal data management and anti-China sentiment had overlapped, making people in their teens and 20s especially reluctant to sign up.
SK Telecom, Coupang and other large personal data leaks in Korea are cited as the backdrop for this previously lukewarm response changing recently. With leaks repeating to the point where a self-mocking phrase has emerged that "personal data has become a public good," the perceived importance of security has been diluted.
On X and other online communities, reviews are being shared along the lines of "I sold data that was already stolen and made money." Posts like "I am satisfied if I sold my information to China and made 1 million won" and "Korea does not even compensate, but TikTok gives 300,000 won" are not hard to find.
In fact, more than 300 leak reports were filed with the Personal Information Protection Commission this year. In January, a hack of the GS Retail website leaked information of more than 90,000 people, and when the scope of analysis was widened, the damage grew to 1.58 million cases.
In Apr., SK Telecom leaked data of about 23.24 million users. Following Albamon (22,437 resumes), KT (unauthorized small payments and SIM information leaks), and Lotte Card (about 2.96 million card information leaks), last month Coupang also suffered a personal data leak affecting 33.7 million people.
Experts warn that signing up lured by rewards from Chinese platforms can increase the risk of further leaks. A security industry official said, "Apps from Chinese corporations often have wide-ranging personal data collection, and in some cases traces remain even after deletion," adding, "the choice to hand over personal data for short-term rewards can come back as a long-term risk."