E-commerce giant Coupang said on Thursday that an unauthorized third party had gained access to personal data of some 4,500 of its customers, including names, email addresses, delivery addresses, telephone numbers and most recent orders.
The data leak was confirmed Tuesday, after which Coupang cut off the route used by the unidentified data thief. The company, however, said that it has not found evidence suggesting unauthorized intrusion into its system related to customer payments.
Coupang said it has stepped up monitoring efforts related to the data leak and advised customers to be on the lookout for texts and phone calls claiming to be from Coupang officials.
The company reported the incident to related government authorities, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the Personal Information Protection Commission.
Coupang, founded by Korean American businessperson Bom Kim, is based in the US, but its operations include South Korea, Taiwan, India and Singapore. It is among the front-runners in the Korean e-commerce market, logging quarterly sales of 12.8 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in the third quarter this year to mark 20 percent growth from the same period in 2024.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
