Man Receives Nude Photos and Chat Partner Turns Hostile... Turns Out to Be a Phishing Organization

Pretended to Be a Woman to Install Malware on Phones
"I Will Distribute Photos" Blackmail... Extorted 200 Million Won from 32 People

A so-called 'body cam phishing' organization that approached men through a chat application (app), obtained nude photos, and then threatened to distribute them to extort hundreds of millions of won has been apprehended.

According to Yonhap News on the 23rd, the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they arrested five people, including the 20-year-old ringleader Mr. A, on charges of blackmail, and booked another 20-year-old accomplice Mr. B without detention. Mr. A and others were indicted on charges of threatening 142 men who sent nude photos via chat apps from June 2021 to November last year, extorting a total of 200 million won.

They committed the crimes systematically by setting up computers in an office disguised as an advertising company and creating fake websites. First, they disguised themselves as women through chat apps and approached the male victims. After building trust through conversations, they obtained the victims' names and contact information, and subsequently received photos of the victims' faces and nude bodies. Then, Mr. A and his group made the victims access fake websites and implanted malicious code (APK files) on their mobile phones. By doing so, they secured phone numbers of family and acquaintances stored on the victims' phones and threatened to distribute the nude photos to those family members and acquaintances.

Among the 142 men who were threatened, 32 are known to have actually sent money to Mr. A and his group. Most of the victims were male office workers in their 20s and 30s, who feared that their obscene chat activities would be revealed to family or acquaintances, so they handed over money to Mr. A and others. The amount of damage ranged from a minimum of 400,000 won to as much as 41 million won.

A police official stated, "Body cam phishing crimes targeting young men in their teens to 30s through chat apps are not decreasing," and urged, "When chatting, do not open or download files from unknown sources and delete them. If the other party requests nude photos or induces obscene video calls, you may become a target of crime, so you should not comply."