Police nab 2 suspects in Hyundai Capital hacking scandal

Police have caught two men suspected of being hired to hack personal information from Hyundai Capital Services, Korea’s major lending company and a financial unit of Hyundai Motor Group.

Three other suspects are known to have fled overseas, including a 37-year-old Korean hacker living in the Philippines.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Monday, “We applied for an arrest warrant for Mr. Heo (a 40-year-old jobless man) who gave 20 million won (18,373 U.S. dollars) to the infamous hacker in the Philippines for hacking.”

Also caught was a 39-year-old man who drove a car while Heo was withdrawing money that he got by blackmailing the lending company.

According to police, Heo met his friend in the Philippines at the end of December last year. The friend reportedly said, “A famous hacker is in the Philippines and he will hack personal information of well-known companies for you if you pay him. You can make a good deal of money if you threaten the companies (with the leaked information).”

Heo borrowed 20 million won (18,373 dollars) from an accomplice and gave the money to the hacker at the end of March.

After being blackmailed, Hyundai Capital wired 100 million won (91,870 dollars) to a bank account of Heo’s paper company. “Heo withdrew around 42 million won (38,585 dollars) of the sum with his three accomplices and the scene was captured by security cameras,” police said.

Police is seeking the hacker’s whereabouts. He is suspected to have led the hacking by selecting Hyundai Capital as a target and resorting to blackmail.

Lee Byeong-ha, head of investigation for Seoul police, said, “Though Heo commissioned the hacking, he doesn’t seem to have received any data.”

In the course of this investigation, police also found that a former Hyundai Capital data center employee who quit at the end of last year illegally accessed the company’s personal information system.