Kidnapping fears revive old hoax about gangs targeting motorists in South Korea

A years-old hoax claiming gangs are throwing eggs at car windshields to force their victims to stop has found a new lease of life in South Korea, where there is a growing fear of kidnappings following reports of abductions both locally and abroad. But South Korean police say there is no truth to social media posts reframing the old hoax as a warning from the force. The police also told AFP they understand there have been no recent reports of such incidents.

“Official message from police: If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windshield, do not stop to check the car, do not operate the wiper and do not spray water,” reads Korean-language text on a graphic shared on Instagram on October 31, 2025.

It goes on to say: “Because egg mixed with water becomes milky and blocks your vision up to 92.5%, so you are then forced to stop on the side of the road and become a victim of these criminals. This is a new technique used by gangs.”

The supposed police warning also features their logos.

The same graphic was also shared elsewhere in similar Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X posts, where it was viewed more than 5.6 million times.

It appears to have found fertile ground to spread in South Korea following the high-profile torture and killing of a Korean college student in Cambodia (archived link).

The case shone a spotlight on the Southeast Asian country’s fake jobs and scam centres, involved in kidnapping dozens of South Korean nationals.

Local media reported that scores of South Koreans have since cancelled travel plans to Cambodia and neighbouring Southeast Asian nations over safety concerns (archived link).

There are also growing fears in South Korea about minors being abducted (archived link).

The Korea Herald, citing police data, reported a total of 319 cases of kidnapping, abductions and kidnapping attempts were recorded from January to August 2025 — an average of more than nine cases per week (archived link).

Another local outlet, The Chosun Daily, said public anxiety triggered a surge in false alarms, stretching police manpower (archived link).

But the graphic is an adaptation of an old hoax previously debunked by AFP in 2019 that has periodically resurfaced in both English and Korean since at least 2017.

The South Korean police clarified in both 2018 and 2020 when the claim circulated online that it was untrue, adding they had not issued such a warning (archived here and here).

And a senior superintendent at the National Police Agency also told AFP by phone on November 5 that he “understood there had been no recent reports of such incidents”.

The force also posted a Facebook video showing an officer debunking the claim by throwing eggs at the windshield and cleaning them off with the car’s wipers (archived link).

Moreover, the purported police notice contains multiple errors in spacing and punctuation as well as awkward phrasing.

The Korean and English titles of the police agency also differ from the official ones on its website (archived link).