No. 472, Nov. 18, 2004/ Contact person: Lee Su-jeong
	Consumers Union of Korea Strings of Internet Scams where Internet Shopping Malls Disappear, Once Getting Hold of Victims’ Dough - Lure Gullible Consumers with Laptop Computers and other Pricy Items at Half the Regular Prices   The story usually starts with a spam email delivered to the victim’s inbox, advertising notebook computers and computer monitors offered at half the regular street prices.  The naïve buyers, who fell for the scam, will of course never see the goods in question or their money.  This classical form of internet scam is gaining growing currency. According to the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center run by the Consumers Union of Korea, four such fraudulent websites were reported during the past month, including two laptop stores; Prime Notebooks (http://www.primenote.co.kr), Angel Com (http://www.angelcom.net); and two LCD monitor sellers: Blaze Tech (http://www.blazwtech.com) and Jeil Monitors (http://www.jeilmonitor.com).   The tactics shared by these four sites are: 1) They tantalize consumers by offering up to half off the regular prices on items they claim they will deliver; 2) They generally claim that the numbers of available items are limited to provoke consumers into impulsive buying, and force buyers to pay quickly by offering their non-existing goods for only limited time; 3) They do not accept credit cards, and transactions are on cash-only basis; 3) They contact consumers through unsolicited emails; 4) Finally, all the business information published on these websites, including the name of CEO, online retailer registration number and address, was fake, making it impossible to hunt down the scammers.  They will be reachable by phone and email for a short period of time, and, once the deals are closed, the communication channels are shut down.   As for the case of Jeil Monitors, the latest of the series of four scams that came to light this month, the damage was fortunately kept small, as the false company information displayed on the site caught the attention of a user, who reported it to the Seoul E-Commerce Center.  However, 8 consumers already fell prey to the scam, prior to the waning issued by the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center.   The lesson of this is that consumers should avoid online stores offering too-good-to-be-true types of deals, accompanied especially with the claim of limited inventories and offer periods, and who would accept only cash payments.  Consumers are also recommended to exercise due diligence prior to engaging in transactions with internet stores they are unfamiliar with.  The website of Seoul Electronic Commerce Center (http://ecc.seoul.go.kr) makes available for public access a database containing close to 10,000 internet shopping malls.   ▶ Inquiries: Yun Yeong-mi, Seoul Electronic Commerce Center (3707-8363)
	Seoul YMCA Citizens Newsroom Excessive Race for Early Product Release Floods the Market with Glitch-ridden Cell Phones - Seoul YMCA Opens ‘The Consumer Complaint Center for Bug-plagued, High-price, Multi-function Cell Phones’   With the introduction of number portability, the communications device market is inundated with new models of expensive, multi-function cell phones, whose reliability leaves much to be desired.  Consumer complaints are mounting over these devices whose myriads of functions frequently fail.  The problems are mainly caused by the bugged software loaded in these devices.  With multiples features such as credit card processing, games, MP3 playback and camera thrown in together, software programs controlling each of these functions became hugely important.  Meanwhile, driven by competition, manufacturers are rushing to release these phones without putting them through proper product testing, resulting in high incidence of product deficiency.  Popular portable phones can cost over 500,000 won per unit, and each model is sold in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands.  The problem therefore must be tackled through collective consumer actions. Consumers who purchased a bug-plagued cell phone have to go through the manufacturer’s customer service centers, oftentimes more than once.  In addition to the hassle and inconvenience, consumers frequently have to pay for the repair out of their own pockets.  It is as though manufacturers are trying to recoup their development expenditures through these extra-costs they are unfairly charging consumers.  The most aggravating of all is that these makers of problem cell phones, who should normally be issuing a product recall, do not even notify consumers about the need for an upgrade.  Few manufacturers make available software patches, and having these phones serviced through manufacturer service center is as vexing and bewildering as ever. Mobile phone makers, having neglected their duty to inspect products and make necessary adjustments before release and having rushed to market them, are now forcing consumers to do their job by reporting bugs and issues to the company.  These ‘early-adopter’ consumers, as if it wasn’t enough to have paid high prices on the latest models, are working for the manufacturers as product testers.  This phenomenon, rather than caused by an inherent technological difficulty, is due to the over-competition among manufacturers, scurrying to set records such as being the first to release devices of some unprecedented specifications.  Pouring unreliable products into the market, the idea is basically ‘Sell first and fix the problem later.”  Their recklessness may be explained by the expectation of impunity relating to the short market cycle of cell phones.  These companies, while being relentless in stimulating consumer demand by continuous flow of new models, are extremely reluctant, when it comes to product testing and recall decisions.  Their classical response to consumer complaints is that these phones which left their warehouses not so long ago are ‘old models.’  Seoul YMCA Citizens Newsroom decided to take a proactive stance on this affair and opened its consumer complaint center, devoted solely to mobile phone-related issues.  It will seek out regulatory and policy solutions to the problem, reviewing pertinent provisions in the current Product Liability Act and the Consumer Protection Act, as well as pressing for product recalls, if deemed necessary.   ※ Complaint Reporting Center: Seoul YMCA Citizens Newsroom (consumer.ymca.or.kr) Website of Ddanzi Consumer Protection Center (www.ddanzi.com) ▶ Inquiries: Kim Hui-gyeong (725-1400)