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Gmarket suffers unauthorized payment incident affecting 60 users amid hacking woes

Published: 03 Dec. 2025, 12:17 Updated: 03 Dec. 2025, 14:44

The logo of Gmarket Inc. is shown in this undated file photo. [YONHAP]

Financial authorities have begun an emergency on-site inspection of the major e-commerce platform Gmarket Inc. after reports of unauthorized mobile payments, representatives said Wednesday, as concerns mount over user data security following Coupang's recent massive data leak.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) launched the inspection on Tuesday after more than 60 Gmarket users reported that their accounts were used for unauthorized payments last week, according to FSS representatives and retail industry sources.

The incident is believed to have occurred when mobile gift certificates were purchased using credit cards registered with Gmarket's simple payment service, SmilePay. Individual losses ranged from 30,000 won ($20) to 200,000 won.

Gmarket has claimed the incident was not caused by hacking attacks but by fraudulent payments made using account information stolen externally, an FSS representative said, adding that authorities are working to verify the company's explanation.

Meanwhile, the FSS has also launched a separate on-site inspection of Coupang Pay, Coupang's fintech subsidiary, to check whether any payment information was exposed in connection with the e-commerce giant's recent data breach and to review the company's information management practices.

Coupang has said the personal information of nearly 34 million customers, including names, addresses and phone numbers, was stolen. The data breach is believed to have occurred between June and November, though the company said it became aware of the leak just last month.

Yonhap