Hacked for 1 Billion Won in 4 Days… HQ and Local Reseller Shrug Off Responsibility

[Anchor]

An overseas cloud service user was suddenly billed 1 billion won for just four days of usage. It turned out the account had been hacked. Even though a dispute settlement committee ruled that it was not the user's fault, both the overseas headquarters and the local reseller that sold the service are merely passing the buck.

Reporter Park Jaehyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

In his 30s, a user surnamed Seo was using Amazon cloud services through an official domestic reseller.

In October 2024, Seo received an email from the reseller.

The email stated that the daily usage fee, which normally hovered around 80 won, had surged to 210 million won, and hacking was suspected.

Upon urgently checking the account, Seo found that large-scale operations had been conducted across at least eight countries, including Bahrain and Indonesia, over a four-day period, racking up costs exceeding 1 billion won.

It is presumed that someone hacked Seo's account to mine virtual assets.

Although the exact hacking route remains unknown, the entire usage fee was billed directly to Seo.

[Seo / Cloud Service User: I searched at night. About what happens if I file for personal bankruptcy or rehabilitation. I thought, 'Surely I'll be protected,' just like you are protected when your credit card is stolen.]

Following protests, the usage fee was reduced to 400 million won, but unable to agree, Seo sought relief from the Korea Consumer Agency.

After more than a year of deliberation, the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission decided in July that it was difficult to conclude the incident occurred due to Seo's negligence, and noted that the reseller only recognized the surge in usage four days after it began, ruling that Seo had no obligation to pay.

However, the reseller rejected the mediation decision.

[Seo / Cloud Service User: Even if I bear some responsibility for the charges, I feel aggrieved about how the amount ballooned like this when there was nothing I could do. That anxiety is always there in my daily life.]

Amazon stated that the issue is a matter between the reseller and the customer, making it irrelevant to them, while the domestic reseller stated it is currently looking for ways to minimize the user's burden.

With AI-driven hacking rapidly increasing, similar disputes are expected to become more frequent.

[Kim Tae-hoon / Professor, Graduate School of Metaverse, Sogang University: These types of accidents will increasingly multiply, so there is a need to standardize a response manual, much like a traffic accident manual.]

Some experts suggest the need for an organization like the UK ombudsman system that can issue binding arbitration decisions after professional investigations.

(Video reporting: Park Jin-ho, Cho Chang-hyun | Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa | Design: Lee Jun-ho, VJ: Lee Ji-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.