"Analyzing Specific Person's SNS Activity with AI" Advertisement
Even Paying Up to About 300,000 Won, No Results Received
Companies that falsely advertised the ability to check how many times a specific person viewed their KakaoTalk profile picture have been caught.
According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 17th, the Hanam Police Station in Gyeonggi Province has been receiving reports and investigating companies that advertise that, through artificial intelligence (AI) technology, they can find out how many times a specific person viewed their KakaoTalk profile, who viewed their KakaoTalk profile the most, who a specific person frequently chats with on Instagram direct messages (DM), and who viewed their Instagram, since May.
These companies claimed on their websites, "We use globally recognized AI and provide SNS analysis services with big data whose effectiveness has been verified."
The companies advertising these services operated under the names 'MindLab,' 'Daniel Beauty Lab,' and 'FaceLab,' respectively. However, all were confirmed to have the same representative, Mr. Lim.
Various options presented when clicking the 'Submit SNS Analysis' tab on the FacesLab homepage. [Photo by FacesLab homepage capture]
In the case of 'Daniel Beauty Lab,' they promoted "Human Face AI artificial intelligence created by computer scientists and AI experts. Now AI artificial intelligence and data science are revolutionizing SNS and beauty," emphasizing SNS analysis programs and AI facial analysis systems for plastic surgery advice.
'FaceLab' advertised, "Aren't you curious? Don't trust your intuition about who really likes you. Now trust the data." Below the 'Apply' button, it also stated that more than 187,000 people have used the service so far.
Users who requested SNS analysis paid between 9,000 KRW and as much as 298,000 KRW. However, they either did not receive any analysis report at all or only received a one-line notification such as "(The analysis target) has viewed the client's profile ○ times in the last 24 hours."
However, Kakao stated that the service is "technically impossible," adding, "We do not provide users' activity information externally, and it is not possible to analyze other users' information based solely on a KakaoTalk profile."
They further added, "We sent certified letters and warnings to the companies but received no response," and "We are actively cooperating with the police investigation."
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