Four arrested in ‘revenge-for-hire’ crimes using stolen Baemin customer data
Published: 28 Mar. 2026, 15:42
![Delivery workers drive past a street in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on June 17, 2025. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/28/9d1cb4f3-c8c5-4011-9817-d04222f6885b.jpg)
Delivery workers drive past a street in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on June 17, 2025. [YONHAP]
Four individuals have been apprehended by police for carrying out so-called revenge-for-hire crimes, in which they were paid to smear excrement on victims’ front doors or spray abusive graffiti with lacquer.
Investigators revealed that the group obtained personal information, including home addresses, by infiltrating a subcontractor of the food delivery platform Baedal Minjok, known as Baemin, with one of its members posing as a customer service agent.
According to the Seoul Yangcheon Police Precinct on Friday, the suspects were arrested for a series of retaliatory attacks carried out in Siheung, Gyeonggi, and Yangcheon District in western Seoul. Three of the four suspects have been detained. The group allegedly accepted requests via Telegram and committed multiple offenses, including smearing feces and spray-painting doors at an apartment complex in Siheung in January.
One suspect, a man surnamed Yeo, is believed to have secured employment as a customer service agent at a call center operated by a Baedal Minjok subcontractor to access personal data for the crimes. Authorities found that Yeo illegally searched around 1,000 customer records for purposes unrelated to his duties and passed on approximately 40 addresses to an accomplice, identified as "A", who carried out the attacks.
Police expanded their investigation after discovering that Baedal Minjok customer data had been used to identify targets while probing A. Earlier this month, authorities conducted a search and seizure at Woowa Brothers, the operator of the platform, and obtained relevant materials. They subsequently arrested two higher-level suspects, surnamed Lee and Jung, who allegedly orchestrated the scheme.
The accomplice identified as A, Yeo and Lee are currently under detention, while an arrest warrant has also been requested for Jung.
In a statement, Woowa Brothers said it takes the criminal use of subcontractors “very seriously” and is in the process of terminating its contract with the firm involved. The company added that it will conduct a full review of its customer service workforce management and implement measures to prevent a recurrence.
Police said the investigation is ongoing to determine whether additional companies may have been affected by similar data breaches.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)