According to industry representatives on May 12, stories are circulating about customers being fooled by phone sellers who promised to provide ‘some ramen,’ the illegal monetary support, and then sent real bags of ramen instead. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — As the Korean government has banned monetary incentives to customers buying cell phones, some bizarre stories about illegal offers are circulating around the web.
Since all forms of monetary incentives are now illegal, some phone sellers are secretly providing cash support to buyers using secret code, such as 40 ramen bags representing 400,000 won of cash.
According to industry representatives on May 12, stories are circulating about customers being fooled by phone sellers who promised to provide ‘some ramen,’ the illegal monetary support, and then sent real bags of ramen instead.
Some buyers are even posting pictures of the noodles and screen-captures of text messages from sellers, through a web site opened for victims of such scams.
However, as the so-called victims also broke the law, it would be difficult for them to take legal action against the vendors.
The Korea Communications Commission said that it would look into the reports before deciding whether or not to crackdown on mobile phone vendors.
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
