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HOUSING & DORMSPosted by burner_acct7710 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · 1 month ago
How do you spot a fake goshiwon listing?
prices on some listings are way below the others in the same street and the photos look almost too nice.
what are the actual warning signs. i'd rather pay 50k more than lose a month's rent
what are the actual warning signs. i'd rather pay 50k more than lose a month's rent
9 comments
OFFICIAL ANSWER
KyaALLO TEAM
Founder & Head Consultant · Seoul
Goshiwon scams are less common than one-room deposit scams — there is no deposit to steal, so the payoff is one month's rent. But they exist and they follow a very consistent shape.
The warning signs, strongest first:
1. **Payment to a personal account whose name does not match the business.** This is the single clearest signal and it is present in almost every real case. A legitimate goshiwon has a business account.
2. **Urgency.** "Two other people are looking at it, pay today to hold it." A real operator with a real empty room will hold it for 24 hours.
3. **Refusing a live video call** of the specific room. Photos can be stolen from another listing; a live walkthrough cannot. This costs them two minutes and any genuine operator will do it.
4. **Price well below the street.** If everything nearby is 500,000 and this is 330,000 with better photos, the photos are from a different building.
5. **Photos that look professionally shot or too wide.** Reverse image search them. Stolen listing photos often appear on several sites.
6. **No street address, or an address that does not match the photos on Naver Map street view.** Always check the address on street view before paying anything.
7. **Contact only through a messaging app, never a phone call, never an office.**
What to do instead, which removes almost all the risk:
- Pay on arrival, in person, after seeing the room. Most goshiwon accept this since there is no deposit protecting them either.
- If you must reserve remotely, send a small holding amount, not a full month.
- Check the address on Naver Map street view and confirm the building in the photos is the building at that address.
- Ask for the business registration number (사업자등록번호). Real businesses give it without hesitation.
If something does go wrong, report it to the police (112 or the Korean Internet fraud reporting site) and contact the Seoul Global Center or your district foreigner support centre. Amounts of this size are recoverable more often than people assume, but only if you have the transfer record and the messages.
The warning signs, strongest first:
1. **Payment to a personal account whose name does not match the business.** This is the single clearest signal and it is present in almost every real case. A legitimate goshiwon has a business account.
2. **Urgency.** "Two other people are looking at it, pay today to hold it." A real operator with a real empty room will hold it for 24 hours.
3. **Refusing a live video call** of the specific room. Photos can be stolen from another listing; a live walkthrough cannot. This costs them two minutes and any genuine operator will do it.
4. **Price well below the street.** If everything nearby is 500,000 and this is 330,000 with better photos, the photos are from a different building.
5. **Photos that look professionally shot or too wide.** Reverse image search them. Stolen listing photos often appear on several sites.
6. **No street address, or an address that does not match the photos on Naver Map street view.** Always check the address on street view before paying anything.
7. **Contact only through a messaging app, never a phone call, never an office.**
What to do instead, which removes almost all the risk:
- Pay on arrival, in person, after seeing the room. Most goshiwon accept this since there is no deposit protecting them either.
- If you must reserve remotely, send a small holding amount, not a full month.
- Check the address on Naver Map street view and confirm the building in the photos is the building at that address.
- Ask for the business registration number (사업자등록번호). Real businesses give it without hesitation.
If something does go wrong, report it to the police (112 or the Korean Internet fraud reporting site) and contact the Seoul Global Center or your district foreigner support centre. Amounts of this size are recoverable more often than people assume, but only if you have the transfer record and the messages.
Was this helpful?Updated 1 month ago
9 comments
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You can still post anonymously after signing in.personal account with a different name. that's it. that's the tell. korean businesses have business accounts and there is no reason for an exception
25
simple rule, easy to remember. thanks
9
also ask for the 사업자등록번호. real places just tell you
7
check the address on naver street view before paying. mine matched, a friend's didn't — the building in the photos was in a different district entirely
18
takes 30 seconds and catches most of the fake listings
7
the urgency is always there in the scams. "someone else is coming at 6pm". real places don't do that, they have empty rooms all the time
14
reverse image search the photos. the fake one i almost fell for used photos from a hotel listing in busan
11
if the photos look too good for the price they're from somewhere else
5
just pay on arrival after seeing it. that removes basically the entire risk and most places are fine with it
8
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