Overseas Cases of Phishing Crimes Impersonating Korean Actors
A case has emerged in the United States where a phishing crime was attempted by impersonating a Korean actor to Korean drama fans.
"Caught by the desire to be noticed and romance addiction... Came to my senses when asked for 'card information'"
According to an article published on the internet edition of the Washington Post (WP) on the 19th (local time) in the 'Opinion' section, Priscilla Lachen Lin (78), a social anthropologist, began to indulge in 'K-drama' starting with the Netflix drama 'Navillera.'
'Navillera' is a drama about a grandfather who starts learning ballet, his lifelong dream, at seventy, and a 23-year-old ballet dancer. It was a drama that gained quiet acclaim and word of mouth in Korea when it aired.
Lin said, "My heart started pounding as soon as Song Kang, who played the young ballet dancer, appeared," and gradually she began to watch more Korean dramas.
She said, "Just watching the dramas was not enough. I wanted to meet the person who captured my heart in person," adding, "I started looking at the SNS of my favorite actors."
She continued, "After countless 'praise comments,' surprisingly, my 'choea' (most beloved) actors began sending me direct messages," confessing, "Just the fact that these amazing men chose thoughtful and funny me made me feel like I was a great person."
She said, "At this point, you might have started doubting my intelligence," adding, "In a corner of my mind, I thought the person sending the messages might not be the actual actor, but the adolescent desire to be noticed or romance addiction held me. I downloaded the app and started chatting with the stars."
Lin said, "Sweet conversations continued until the person I thought was actor Ahn Hyo-seop asked me for my credit card information," adding, "I came to my senses, stopped chatting, and now ignore all personal messages."
This was an incident where she almost became a victim of phishing crime, which exploits fans' affection for Hallyu stars by impersonating trusted people to fraudulently obtain confidential information such as credit card details.
"Feeling like becoming the same person as a celebrity"... Continued attempts of phishing crimes impersonating celebrities call for caution
Lin said, "After the anger subsided, I thought about why this happened," noting, "Enjoying attention is a human thing, and the moment a piece of the halo of a celebrity falls on me, we suddenly regard ourselves as important people."
She added, "Immersion in drama actors was a refuge that diluted the fear of isolation felt by many of my peers, including myself, who have entered the last chapter of life," and "I now want to distinguish between enjoying dramas and obsession with roles."
Lin joked, "You might ask, 'You admit you learned something. Then what about your K-drama addiction?' Well, let the grandmother enjoy romance a little. Of course, I still stick close to the TV."
Meanwhile, actual cases of phishing crimes continue, where accounts of celebrities are impersonated to demand money from fans.
Recently, there was a case impersonating Jang Wonyoung, a member of the group IVE. A netizen revealed a message they received saying, "I'm IVE's Jang Wonyoung, but my phone screen is broken, so I'm sending this from a text service. I'm in a hurry now, so could you buy ten 10,000 won Google gift cards (points in the Google Play Store) at a convenience store and send them to me?"
Also, last year, a Korean drama fan living in Brazil was impersonated by someone claiming to be actor Park Bo-gum, who said, "I want to meet you, but to use the entertainment agency's expenses, I have to go through several complicated procedures, so if you send the airfare first, I will settle it when we meet," and transferred 50,000 reais (about 13 million won). At that time, 6 to 7 similar cases were additionally reported, but other victims did not send money.
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