Kim, an office worker in his 30s living in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo district, recently spotted a post on a major secondhand trading platform offering "an unopened, brand-new cordless vacuum cleaner for 300,000 won" and contacted the seller. The seller sent a screenshot of an online site selling the product for 1.2 million won, reassuring Kim by saying, "I'm urgently disposing of an unused new product due to personal circumstances." Believing he could buy a new product for less than half the market price, Kim immediately transferred the money.
However, the vacuum cleaner that arrived was a different product from the one in the screenshot the seller had provided. Kim later discovered that the item was a low-cost Chinese product with a list price of less than 50,000 won. The scheme was cunning. The seller had registered an absurdly high price for the product on an online site he had fabricated himself. He then deceived buyers by claiming to offer it cheaply on the secondhand trading platform, as if that were the normal selling price. The same post was repeatedly published over several days, changing regions and accounts. "The sales post and the site were so sophisticated that I never thought the price itself could have been manipulated," Kim lamented.
As more consumers turn to secondhand trading platforms for thrifty spending amid the economic downturn, fraud targeting them is surging. Fraud losses through secondhand trading platforms surpassed 870 billion won for the first time last year, marking a record high. Since these are person-to-person transactions, practical relief is not easy, and fraud schemes—such as fake listings, advance payments, and fake secure payment links—are growing increasingly sophisticated. Analysts point out that measures such as tougher penalties are urgently needed.
According to National Police Agency data obtained by The Seoul Economic Daily through the office of Rep. Ko Dong-jin of the People Power Party on the 23rd, fraud losses through secondhand trading platforms reported to police last year totaled 874.07 billion won. This represents a 161.7% surge from the previous year (334.01 billion won). Compared with 2021 (257.39 billion won), it has more than tripled. The number of fraud cases has also continued to rise. Secondhand trading fraud cases reported to police last year numbered 119,741, up 42.4% from 2021 (84,107). The upward trend continues this year, with 49,867 fraud cases reported in the first half.
As fraud damage increases, consumer relief claims related to secondhand trading platforms filed with the Korea Consumer Agency also surged about 15-fold, from 12 in 2021 to 175 last year. After steadily rising to 18 in 2022, 48 in 2023, and 82 in 2024, claims more than doubled from the previous year last year, marking the highest number of relief claims ever filed.
The problem is that fraud schemes targeting the psychology of consumers seeking "thrifty" spending are becoming increasingly organized and sophisticated. Recently, there have been a series of cases in which fraudsters post fake listings of popular products at below-market prices as bait, then induce advance payments or send fake links disguised as the platform's secure payment system to steal personal and financial information. In particular, given that the increase in losses far outpaced the increase in the number of cases, analysts assess that organized fraud crimes—such as fake listings disguised as high-end products and advance payment scams—are on the rise.
Experts advise being suspicious of products priced excessively cheaply, such as far below market value. They say consumers should exercise caution in secondhand trading by checking the seller's history and account number before a transaction and using the platform's secure payment system.
"Secondhand trading fraud schemes are growing increasingly sophisticated, with fraudsters manipulating everything from sales histories and product photos to prices on external shopping malls," a police official said. "For products priced excessively below market value, you should verify whether they are genuine, and caution is needed with external payments." Rep. Ko also stressed, "Even though secondhand trading fraud losses set new record highs every year, many victims fail to receive practical relief on the grounds that these are person-to-person transactions. We must strengthen platform operators' obligations to verify identities and provide secure payment, and dramatically increase penalties for habitual and organized fraud."
