Personal Data of 18,000 People on Discarded Hard Disk... Who Threw It Away?

On the 27th, MBC reported that this hard disk contained personal information of at least 18,000 people, along with various grades and memo files related to certificate forgery. Photo by MBC Newsdesk.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A large number of passport copies were found on an external hard disk discarded in a garbage dump, prompting the police to launch an investigation.

On the 27th, MBC reported that the discarded hard disk contained personal information of at least 18,000 people along with memo files related to various forged academic transcripts and certificates.

According to MBC, an office worker in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, discovered the hard disk in a nearby garbage dump and reported it to the police.

Upon opening the hard disk, files containing copies of passports of about 18,000 people were found, including names, photos, and even resident registration numbers.

The storage device also contained suspicious memo files.

The memos stated that they could forge not only university graduation certificates but also national technical qualifications and TOEIC and TOEFL scores.

It was also written that they could create bankbooks and forge transaction histories and balance amounts.

There were about 40 types of certificates that could be forged, ranging from resident ID cards to foreigner registration cards, and even specialist medical licenses.

At the end of the document listing the possible forgeries, a phone number along with someone's bank account was written.

MBC reporters called this phone number to verify directly.

The person who answered denied having ever requested or been asked to forge documents, saying, "I have never asked for or been asked to forge documents, and the name and account number are not mine."

The police plan to investigate who discarded the storage device containing a large amount of personal information and whether it was actually used for illegal forgery.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.