Seoul: KT Corp. said Thursday the number of victims of a recent mobile payment breach has reached 362, with total damages estimated at 240 million won (US$173,000). South Korea’s No. 2 mobile carrier, which recently reported a series of unauthorized mobile payments following a suspected data leak, had initially reported 278 victims.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the company said it reached the conclusion after reviewing all mobile payments made through the automated response system since June. No additional breach was reported after Sept. 5, when KT blocked suspicious attempts to make mobile payments, it added.
The mobile carrier added it has found no evidence that users’ names and birth dates, both essential for mobile payments, were leaked from the company. KT noted other key personal information, including the universal subscriber identity module (USIM) certification number, has not been compromised, ruling out additional damage caused by smartphone cloning.
On the previous day, police detained two Chinese nationals, aged 48 and 44, on suspicions of being involved in the unauthorized mobile payments of KT users. The 48-year-old is accused of making small unauthorized mobile payments as KT users by hacking their phones while carrying an illegal micro base station connected to KT’s communication network. The other suspect has been charged for having cashed the unauthorized payments.