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Exclusive: Korea hit by Google customer service data leak

Published: 13 Nov. 2025, 18:01 Updated: 13 Nov. 2025, 21:23

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

The Googleplex, the corporate heaquarters complex of Google and its parent company, Alphabet, in Mountain View, California, on Oct. 28 [EPA/YONHAP]

The personal information belonging to Korean Google users who reached out to customer service was leaked as part of a global data breach reported last month.

A number of Korean users received an email from Google’s customer service this month saying that personal information — either their names, phone numbers or email addresses — may have been compromised between Oct. 19 and 22.

A source familiar with the matter told the Korea JoongAng Daily that the data breach notification email was expected to be sent globally to affected users.

[단독] 구글 고객센터 데이터 유출…한국 이용자도 피해

“Due to this incident, unauthorized access occurred with a limited set of basic information that you had provided to Google Customer Support,” the email read in Korean. “We have identified that the scope of the incident only affects Google’s customer support system and does not affect any other Google services. […] As of Nov. 6, 2025, we have confirmed that the incident affected the user's account.

"This incident did not affect the security of your account beyond the details already described.”

A screen capture of an email notice from Google's customer service notifying the user of a data breach [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The notice comes amid widespread reports from outlets such as the Daily Mail, the Mirror, Forbes, the Independent and the New York Post alleging that more than 183 million Gmail accounts were compromised.

Google quickly denied those reports, saying the leaked dataset did not stem from a Gmail breach but from a collection of old stolen credentials obtained through malware-infected computers and hacked non-Google sites.

The data leak from the customer service center is separate from the worldwide Gmail phishing allegations. One user told the Korea JoongAng Daily that he had contacted the service center a few months earlier and received Google’s notification on Thursday.

"We are aware of this issue and our security teams have addressed and fixed the cause," Google spokesperson told the Korea JoongAng Daily. "We take the security and privacy of our users seriously and will provide further updates as needed."

Google Korea has yet to identify the cause of the leakage or the number of users affected within the country.

Correction, Nov. 13, 2025: An earlier version of this article mistranslated the original statement.
Update, Nov. 13, 2025: Amended the story to reflect the reason for the leak as given by Google, added the company's official statement on the matter.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]