The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Samjjeomsam told people a tax refund had arrived — most had none. KFTC fined it ₩71m
Samjjeomsam's app notified users 'your tax refund has arrived' and showed inflated refund amounts. Korea's KFTC fined it ₩71m.
Samjjeomsam · 2025-12-28
What happened
Samjjeomsam — the tax-refund platform run by Javis & Villains — sent users a notification reading '세금 환급액 도착했어요' ('your tax refund has arrived'). Many of those users had no refund at all: tapping through showed a balance of zero won.
The same campaigns advertised inflated refund amounts, such as a '53만원 환급' (530,000 won refund) figure, to lure people into signing up for the service.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission ruled the refund notifications and inflated figures misled consumers about a benefit they would not actually receive, drawing them in to register.
It imposed a corrective order and a surcharge of 71 million won.
Why it happened
- A notification that a refund has arrived is the strongest possible call to open the app
- Selling a promised windfall that most recipients will not see bets on hope over arithmetic
- A refund platform that mints fake refunds destroys the trust its whole product rests on
The lesson
A platform that exists to deliver one thing should not pretend to deliver it. Telling users a refund has arrived when most have none converts the product's core promise into bait.
Aftermath
The KFTC fined Samjjeomsam, the tax-refund platform operated by Javis & Villains, 71 million won for sending users notifications that a tax refund had arrived and advertising inflated refund amounts when many users had no refund due. It ruled the claims misled consumers into signing up for the service and imposed a corrective order and a surcharge.
Sources
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
More like this
Upbit advertised a fee discount that never existed — 0.05% was always the price
Jung Woo-sung's ad drought lasted three years — until Bithumb signed him
Pelicana's AI ad turned infidelity into a fried-chicken love triangle — then deleted it
Somewhere, someone solved the problem this company failed at. 2nd Opinion →
Comments · 0
Sign in to join the comments.