hankyoreh

A sign at a gas station in Seoul’s Gwangjin District reads “No urea water solution.” Someone with ties to the gas station said that they hadn’t received any urea water solution to stock since Nov. 4. (Park Gang-su/The Hankyoreh)

"K," a resident of Ulsan, recently went second-hand shopping online to find urea water solution for their father, who has worked as a truck driver for the past 10 years. On Nov. 5, K wired a total of 400,000 won to a seller they came across on a second-hand site, placing an order for ten 10-liter canisters at 40,000 won apiece.

Explaining that they operated a factory in Gwangju, the seller reassured K with a photograph showing dozens of canisters of urea water solution. After sending the money, K called the seller and asked them to provide a delivery tracking number when the canisters were shipped.

But the solution was never delivered. Four days later, on Nov. 8, K tried to call the seller’s number, only to hear a tone signaling that it was out of service.

While the South Korean government’s recent emergency supply measures have introduced some breathing room amid the urea water solution supply crunch, more and more people are reporting being victimized by online fraud.

Members of the public have jumped into action as well, organizing chat rooms to learn about additional cases and share information about the fraudulent sellers to prevent others from being victimized. They’re also sharing real-time information about gas stations that have the solution in stock, as well as how much it is selling for.

A look at KakaoTalk open chats on Sunday showed roughly a dozen new rooms had been created to share information about urea water solution sales. With anywhere from 10 to 1,000 members, the rooms had names such as “Catching Bunjang [secondhand market] urea water solution fraudster [name redacted],” “Victims of urea water solution fraud by [name redacted],” “Exchanging urea water solution information for trucks,” and “Specialized distribution for emergency transactions.”

With so many people scurrying to score the fluid even after the government announced its emergency measures, information is being shared around the clock.

After reporting the fraud to the police, K learned that many other people had fallen for the same seller’s scam. K decided to set up a chat room to find other victims.

“I heard that the more victims there are who report a particular scammer, the more the [authorities] focus on investigating that particular case,” K explained.

“I don’t want to see any more people exploiting the desperation of others by scamming them,” they added.

In the information exchange rooms, users share details about companies suspected of fraud, information for individual sellers, contact information for vendors, and the details of their conversations. They also encourage fraud prevention with messages warning “Scam: do not purchase” and “99.9% of ‘pay in advance’ sales are fraud.”

On Saturday, the government announced plans to progressively supply 1.8 million liters of urea water solution for vehicular use to 100 gas stations nationwide. But for the people looking to buy and sell the solution, the confusion continues.

Gas station employees have struggled to cope with people stopping by in search of the solution, even when they are not designated as sales bases.

“Customers are coming to us because they’ve heard the government is selling urea water solution through gas stations; some have even cursed at us for not having any,” said an employee at one station in Seoul’s Gwangjin District.

Now members of the public are marshaling their collective intelligence as they share information in group chats, including the locations and prices of gas stations that have the solution in stock.

One chat room with around a thousand truck drivers as members was sharing up-to-the-minute supply information on Sunday. “3,000 won per liter in Daecheon southbound on West Sea coast — no wait,” read one message.

“Cheongdo northbound, come quickly. Three [vehicles] in front of me,” read another.

One member complained of steep prices, posting a photograph of one station’s location with a message reading, “Some places are charging 9,000 won a liter.” In response, other users urged them to report the case, posting a telephone number for the joint government policing agency’s reporting center.

By Park Gang-su, staff reporter

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