[Seoul] 3.36 billion won to avoid buying online shopping malls in Seoul...the most ever

This year, the amount of online shopping mall fraud reported to the Seoul Metropolitan Government was 3.35 billion won, the highest ever since the 2005 tally.

The period of concentration of fraud was in January and September ahead of the holiday before the spread of COVID-19, but after COVID-19, there were many in June and July, which the city interpreted as a result of increased demand for golf and camping due to increased outdoor activities instead of indoor activities.

In addition, shopping mall sideline fraud and individual transaction sales inducement fraud have been on the rise since last year, which is attributed to the increase in small and individual transactions due to high prices and high interest rates.

The form of fraud has also shifted from price comparison sites or spam emails to open markets, personal trading platforms, and SNS.The city of

said that fraudulent sites have been avoiding tracking by impersonating famous online malls or using foreign servers since COVID-19, and asked them to pay with a credit card to prevent damage and use 'Escro' or 'Sopizza Damage Compensation Insurance' when paying in cash.