Tourist loses phone, wallet to thief in Korean sauna

Tourist loses phone, wallet to thief in Korean sauna

2025-09-16

A visit to a traditional sauna is a must when visiting South Korea. When a Taiwanese traveler went to one of these hanjeungmak with her mother recently, she put her phone and wallet down between them as they rested before leaving. They drew the attention of a thief, who was caught on the security camera taking her things. She’s now using her experience to call on her fellow travelers to be careful when traveling abroad!

Two women are lying down on the floor for a rest as a man sidles up nearby. He first checks to make sure they’re asleep, then climbs onto a cabinet and scoots until he’s between them. After looking left and right, he carefully extends his foot down. One woman stirs, and he hurriedly retracts his foot. But he quickly tries again, using his toes to help him nab a phone and wallet before running away.

Voice of victim
He took more than a minute to do it. There were people walking around behind him, but no one noticed or stopped him. I don’t get it. At one location, the thief tried twice to buy something for 7 million won, but the transaction didn’t go through. About 20 minutes later, he went to a different place and tried to buy something for almost 4 million, but that didn’t work either.

In her wallet she had about 200,000 won and over NT$4,000 in cash that she wasn’t able to recover. After getting home, she logged in to see where the thief had taken her phone. She never imagined that while visiting a reputable sauna in Dongdaemun, putting her belongings between herself and her mother would make her the target of a thief. It also happened just six hours before her return flight, so there was no way to report it. Shockingly, security footage revealed that she was the man’s second victim within that hour.

Kimberly
Travel agency PR assistant
If you have valuables with you, lock them in a cabinet for safekeeping. If you want to bring your phone, we suggest that you keep it on you at all times. People can also check what people are recommending online, and choose a business that takes electronic payments or has strict entry and exit controls.

This classic sauna is highly recommended online, making it a must-go destination for Taiwanese traveling to South Korea. But lots of commenters on Google also reported their things being stolen. As people come and go freely from these saunas, it’s important to stay on your toes to avoid becoming a target.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#thief #SouthKorea #travel #PSA #hanjeungmak #sauna #crime #Dongdaemun

小心! 遊韓國體驗"汗蒸幕" 小偷伸腳勾走手機錢包

2025-09-16

台灣旅客到韓國必排行程之一，是體驗汗蒸幕。但沒想到有女子，和媽媽到韓國旅遊，想說準備離開了，只是短暫休息一下，手機錢包放兩人中間就睡著。結果竟被小偷給盯上，調監視器發現，這名竊嫌手法熟練，被害人以自己的切身之痛，呼籲國人出國遊玩得特別小心！

兩名女子躺在地上休息，旁邊坐著一名男子，鬼鬼祟祟，先是低頭確認兩人睡著了，接著爬上矮櫃，緩慢朝兩人中間移動，左看看、右觀察，謹慎出腳，卻沒想到女子動了一下，讓他趕緊縮回右腳。但他賊心不死，再試一次！用腳尖邊推邊勾，再伸手直接把他們的錢包、手機，給摸走。

[[聲源:受害旅客]]
“這個動作持續大概有一分多鐘吧，後面其實都有人走來走去，就是沒有人發現，沒有人去制止，我不能理解。（小偷）在同一個地點，刷了兩次700多萬（韓元），然後沒有過，大概20分鐘後他換了一個地點再刷，刷了300多快400（萬），然後也沒有過。”

女子包裡約20萬韓幣、合台幣約4千多的現金，追不回來。回國後，登入帳戶。眼睜睜看著手機，被小偷拿著，實在是哭笑不得。怎麼也沒想到，自己跟媽媽，到韓國東大門知名的汗蒸幕休息，手機錢包就放在兩人中間，也能被大膽宵小給盯上。上機前六小時被偷，報警也沒用。調監視器赫然發現，自己竟是小偷在一小時內，下手的第二個目標。

[[旅行社公關副理 Kimberly]]
“建議民眾如果有貴重物品，還是鎖在置物櫃裡面，會比較安心，如果你想隨身攜帶手機，我們也建議手機絕對不要離身。建議大家可以參考網路的口碑推薦，然後選擇有電子支付，或者是他出入管制比較嚴謹的商家，來做體驗。”

不少網紅都曾推薦過，這間老字號汗蒸幕。因此讓它成為台灣人到韓國玩，一定會排進行程的，熱門景點之一。但看看Google評論，許多旅客都曾提及物品失竊，汗蒸幕出入頻繁、複雜，旅客體驗韓式文化，也得小心自身財物。

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