"New Refund Amount Arrived" Notification Was Deceptive... Ssamzzomssam Sanctioned by KFTC for Exaggerated Advertising

Jobis & Villains, the operator of the tax platform Ssamzzomssam, has been sanctioned by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) for exaggerated advertising.
On the 28th, the KFTC announced that Jobis & Villains had engaged in false, exaggerated, and misleading advertising that could mislead consumers regarding its tax refund agency service. The commission decided to issue a corrective order (prohibiting future violations) and imposed a total fine of 71 million won.
According to the KFTC, Jobis & Villains sought to increase use of its paid 'Tax Filing Agency Service' by first expanding the use of its free 'Estimated Tax Refund Inquiry' service. To achieve this, the company ran four types of deceptive advertisements.
Ssamzzomssam used phrases such as 'A new refund amount has arrived' and 'Selected for refund inquiry,' falsely implying that a new refund had been generated or that users were required to check their eligibility as if they had been specially selected. These were deemed false and exaggerated advertisements.
Additionally, the company misled users into believing that all those who checked their refund would receive the same average refund as those who had actually completed the process using the paid Tax Filing Agency Service.
Furthermore, the phrase 'You need to check an average refund of 536,991 won' was also found to be deceptive, as it represented the average refund for only a subset of users who met additional deduction requirements, but was advertised as if it applied to all users.
Moreover, the statement 'One in two employees is eligible for a refund' was also problematic. Although this statistic was based on Ssamzzomssam users, it was presented in a way that could mislead people into thinking that half of all employees nationwide were eligible.
The KFTC determined that these advertisements could deceive or misinform consumers and hinder rational decision-making.
A KFTC official stated, "This action marks the first time unfair advertising practices by a newly emerging tax platform have been sanctioned following recent advances in information technology (IT). It is significant in that it addresses false, exaggerated, and misleading advertising in the field of Global Income Tax filing and tax refunds, where consumers often lack prior information."

hippo@fnnews.com Kim Chan-mi Reporter