Field note 01 · 현장 수첩
How to Tell a Real Korean Seller From a Fake One — 5 Checks You Can Do From Anywhere
You found the thing — a used car, limited sneakers, an apartment, a camera lens — on a Korean site, from a seller you can't meet. The price is good. Maybe a little too good. Here is what I check before anyone wires a single won. None of it needs Korean fluency or a plane ticket.
1. Make the account age do the talking
On Korean secondhand platforms (당근마켓, 중고나라, 번개장터), a real seller has history: past listings, ratings, a join date measured in years. A brand-new account selling one high-value item is the oldest pattern there is. Ask for a screenshot of their profile showing join date and transaction count. A real seller shrugs and sends it. A fake one stalls.
2. Ask for a timestamped photo, not a photo
Scammers reuse images pulled from other listings. Beat it in one message: ask for a photo of the item next to a handwritten note with today's date and your name. Reverse-image search (Google Lens) anything they already sent — if it shows up on a Japanese auction from 2022, you have your answer.
3. Match the name across three surfaces
For anything with paperwork, the name on the listing, the name on the bank account they want paid, and the name on the item's documents should be the same person. Money going to a "friend's account" is the single most common setup before a seller vanishes.
4. Refuse the payment method that has no undo
If the only accepted method is a direct transfer to a personal account, treat it as a yellow flag — never the first move. Korea has an official escrow option (안전결제) built into most platforms. A seller who won't use it for a high-value item is telling you something.
5. Verify the thing exists in the real world
A car has a registration (자동차등록증) and a VIN you can check. An apartment has a public register (등기부등본) that anyone can pull for about a dollar — it lists the actual legal owner, so you can confirm the person selling is the person who owns. Documents can be photoshopped; a fresh copy pulled by someone standing at the counter can't be.
That last one is the wall most people hit from abroad: the check that only works if someone is physically here. That's the half I do.
If you've run out of things you can verify from your side — one email, one number back.