"Recruiting Overseas Futures Partners" High-Profit Bait Illegal Advertisements Rampant

Personal Credit Information Also Subject to Criminal Penalty if Sold Illegally

Financial Supervisory Service, Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

"Recruiting overseas futures partners. We offer a minimum commission (fee) of 50%."

As advertisements recruiting conspirators for illegal financial investment crimes are rampant mainly on internet cafes and communities, financial authorities have issued a warning.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 27th, recently, illegal companies have been attracting loan applicants through illegal loan advertisements and recruiting conspirators for illegal financial investment activities in online communities.

The main type is illegal loan advertisements. They lure consumers by emphasizing non-face-to-face consultations or loans for those with poor credit. In particular, phrases such as "We understand the feelings of illegal private loan users" and "We think from the applicant's perspective" are used to induce contact. Using illegal private loans can lead to suffering from high interest rates and illegal debt collection.

There are also many job advertisements for illegal financial investment operators. Companies post messages guaranteeing high profits or recruiting partners on online job boards and self-employed communities to recruit crime conspirators. If involved as a conspirator, one may be subject to criminal punishment under relevant laws.

Advertisements for buying and selling personal credit information databases (DB) are also common. These ads are posted on marketing-related boards, claiming to trade personal credit information of financial transaction users. The collected personal credit information is exploited for voice phishing, illegal private loans, investment fraud, and more. Even if deceived by illegal companies into participating in crimes, one may be subject to criminal punishment.

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to cooperate with related agencies centered on the "Government-wide Task Force (TF) for Eradicating Illegal Private Finance" to fundamentally block the distribution channels of illegal private finance. If there is concrete suspicion of illegal information distribution on the internet, a prompt investigation will be requested.