A mobile phone store in Seoul has been accused of taking advantage of a man in his 40s with intellectual and physical disabilities, signing him up for expensive rate plans, various value-added services, and even a funeral service plan when he had only requested a cheaper rate plan.
[Interview - Victim's Sibling: My brother has intellectual and physical disabilities. When he asked to change his plan to one around 30,000 won, they told him they would do it, but then said, "If you use this (most expensive) plan and the highest-tier value-added services, you can get the cheap rate you asked for." That in itself is a scam. They completely toyed with a disabled person. It makes no sense at all.]
Although the victim was in a state where he could not properly understand the terms of contracts such as the funeral service, it is reported that the store recommended the unfair contracts despite knowing his condition.
[Interview - Victim's Sibling: My brother doesn't even know what the word 'funeral service' means, and they signed him up without any explanation of what it was. My brother didn't have the 88,000 won required for the funeral service. Since the money had to be withdrawn to sign up, they put 88,000 won into my brother's account and kept calling him all day. They kept asking, 'Did you withdraw it?' and made him withdraw the money, then told him to pay it back to them.]
During this process, additional damages occurred, such as the victim's existing mobile phone being disposed of without authorization and being replaced with a lower-spec used device.
The victim's family visited the store to protest, but the store reportedly showed an uncooperative attitude.
Consequently, the family contacted the mobile carrier's headquarters directly to report the damage.
However, it is reported that the store in question continued to show an inappropriate attitude during subsequent customer service interactions.
[Voice - Store Employee: The customer service center is actually meaningless. No matter what you talk to them about, we are the ones responsible for all financial processing and damage-related issues. So, for them to mention that they would retrieve the previous device is, quite frankly, nonsense to me. Just go with what I have retrieved for now. I will overturn that and have them correct their statement.]
However, once SBS News Hunters began its investigation, the store's attitude changed.
Coincidentally, that very night, the representative of the store visited the victim to apologize.
[Voice - Mobile Store Representative: The customer told me about what had happened, and I listened to everything and told him I was truly sorry... The cancellation of the customer's phone plan has already been processed. As for the phone he was using before, it has already been sold as a used device, so I told him I would replace it with a new model. I told him I would do my best...]
Experts pointed out that this incident could potentially constitute not just simple fraud, but also quasi-fraud and a violation of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities.
(Reported by Lee Seyoung | Video by Choi Gang-san | Source: News Hunters | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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