'Corona Myeongbu' Seller Caught... Not a Government Agency Hacking Case

Asia Economy obtained the 'COVID-19 List' from a DB sales vendor. This data, organized in an Excel file, included names, phone numbers, residential areas, and body temperatures.

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyoon Song and Jeongyun Lee] A database (DB) seller who deceived people by disguising leaked databases containing personal information as entry logs created to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been caught by the police for illegally profiting tens of millions of won.

The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 23rd that they have arrested and are investigating a man in his 20s, Mr. A, on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

Following our report (Asia Economy November 20th article '[Exclusive] "Selling COVID Entry Logs"... 2 Million Personal Information Records Circulated'), the police have been investigating Mr. A since the 20th of last month with cooperation from the investigation.

Mr. A is suspected of creating a fake COVID-19 related entry log DB and selling it on the messenger app Telegram. In September last year, he received a DB containing personal information such as names and contact details of unspecified individuals from an unidentified person, arbitrarily edited it by adding body temperature entries, named it 'COVID Entry Log' and sold it on Telegram. It was confirmed that he frequently changed his mobile phone and drove vehicles registered under other people's names to evade police tracking.

Estimated cash proceeds from sales of the 'COVID-19 list' database seized by the police./Photo by Chungnam Provincial Police Agency

Investigations revealed that Mr. A illegally profited approximately 42 million won by selling personal information using these methods. The police seized 145 million won in cash, presumed to be proceeds from sales, from Mr. A’s residence.

During police questioning, Mr. A stated, "I only edited and sold part of the DB because I thought advertising it as a COVID-19 related DB would sell better; I did not actually hack government agencies or others." So far, there is no evidence that Mr. A attempted to hack government agencies or others.

A police official said, "We will strengthen investigations into those who collect and sell others' personal information through illegal means, and strictly respond by applying for seizure and confiscation of criminal proceeds before prosecution. We will also strictly respond to acts of personal information leakage and spreading false information that threaten public safety and hinder COVID-19 prevention efforts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.