[Anchor]
In Japan, cases of personal information leaks leading to actual financial damages are occurring continuously. Some lost tens of millions of won in just a few seconds through unauthorized transactions, while hackers have demanded massive sums from corporations using leaked personal information as leverage.
Correspondent Mun Junmo reports from Tokyo.
[Reporter]
This is the foreign exchange transaction history of a man living in Tokyo.
Red numbers indicating losses are stamped one after another.
Between 11:40:59 PM and 11:41:03 PM, 14 transactions were executed in just four seconds, and the total losses reached 3 million yen, equivalent to about 25 million won.
It was a transaction the victim knew nothing about.
[Victim (in his 30s, living in Tokyo): I never even dreamed that I would become a victim of such damage. The damage amount is so huge that it doesn't even feel real. I am truly upset.]
It was a foreign exchange trading service by Japan's major IT conglomerate GMO, and unauthorized transactions were made using information recently leaked from GMO.
GMO announced it would fully compensate for the damages, but the situation does not end here.
Hackers threatened that if 1 million dollars was not sent by noon today (the 27th), they would release the stolen personal information.
When GMO refused to comply with the demand, the hackers released the personal information of one person—whose veracity remains unclear—including their name, date of birth, address, and even their child's name, under the title "Victim Number 1" today (the 27th).
They warned that they will additionally release personal information every day at noon.
As damages continue to pile up, the situation is leading to class-action lawsuits.
When Times Car, a car-sharing company where 1.46 million copies of driver's licenses were leaked, announced it would pay 3,000 yen per person—about 25,000 won—as compensation, 100,000 victims expressed their intention to file a lawsuit.
[Makino Yuki / Attorney: People are facing the ongoing risk of identity theft. Can mental suffering really be settled with 3,000 yen?]
Prime Minister Takaichi held a ministerial meeting yesterday evening and announced that comprehensive measures would be unveiled next week, but concerns are growing over whether there is any way to prevent further damage exploiting already leaked information.
(Reported by Han Chel-min and Moon Hyun-jin | Video edited by Park Sun-soo | Design by Yang Gi-tae)
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