[Celebrity Impersonation Scam] Over 2,500 Cases Reported in 6 Months... Damage Amounting to 230 Billion Won

①Surge in Celebrity Impersonation Phishing Crimes
23 Billion Won Lost in Last 6 Months
Victims in Legal Blind Spots Left Distressed
Urgent Need for Platform Operators to Regulate Illegal Ads

"I was scammed out of 200 million won in an instant. I joined a chat room after seeing an advertisement from a famous broadcaster urging investment. The operator was friendly. They showed me profit rate details, claiming they made a lot of money. When they said if I deposited 200 million won, they would quickly multiply it by several hundred million, I even borrowed money to deposit it, but they immediately disappeared. I didn’t even know their phone number or name." (Famous university professor Kim)

[Photo by Pixabay]

Crimes involving impersonation of celebrities are rampant. This is due to a surge in celebrity impersonation advertisements on social networking services (SNS) such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Naver Band. Claims that celebrities invested and the information provided are often completely fake.

On the 30th, the Economic Crime Investigation Division of the National Police Agency announced, "From September last year to February this year, over six months, more than 2,500 cases of illegal activities including 'celebrity impersonation scams' in investment leading chat rooms were reported." The amount of damage reached 230 billion won. The 'Association for Solving Celebrity Impersonation Online Phishing Crimes' (hereinafter Yusamo), which includes members such as broadcaster Song Eun-yi, star lecturer Kim Mi-kyung, John Lee (former CEO of Meritz Asset Management), Joo Jin-hyung (former CEO of Hanwha Investment & Securities), comedian-turned-investor Hwang Hyun-hee, and lawyer Han Sang-jun, estimated the cumulative scale of celebrity impersonation crimes at an average of 1 trillion won. The average damage per victim is between 150 million and 300 million won. It is understood that one to two people per week are extorted of 1 to 3 billion won or more.

Since last year, the number of crimes has sharply increased. Online posts urging investment using famous figures such as broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk, Hong Jin-kyung, and Lee Boo-jin, president of Shilla Hotel, have appeared. Clicking on the links in the advertisements leads to 'investment leading rooms' opened on platforms like Naver Band and KakaoTalk public chat rooms. Police and legal circles view these new 'celebrity impersonation phishing' methods as similar to the past 'voice phishing' crimes that targeted ordinary citizens. 'Phishing' operations are often based overseas, such as in China, making arrests difficult.

[Image source=Pixabay]

From the left, comedian Hwang Hyun-hee, John Lee, former CEO of Meritz Asset Management, instructor Kim Mi-kyung, comedienne Song Eun-yi, Joo Jin-hyung, former CEO of Hanwha Investment & Securities, and lawyer Han Sang-jun
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Victims Left in Legal Blind Spots

Lawyer Han Sang-jun of the law firm Daegeon said it is difficult to catch phishing criminals in reality. He stated, "Even if reported, illegal scam exchange sites are openly operating. Various agencies should quickly investigate and suspend IP addresses and websites, but while they hesitate, phishing criminals launder illegal funds."

Both the police and the Financial Supervisory Service reportedly do not have dedicated departments for celebrity impersonation scams. These cases are handled by departments related to 'investment leading rooms.' The lawyer said, "A dedicated department needs to be established. In celebrity impersonation phishing cases, there is no unified case handling, and victims who visit police stations have been confused. A department to monitor and investigate such scam methods is necessary."

Kim Mi-kyung, CEO of Art Speech & Communication, pointed out, "The biggest problem is that there are no appropriate laws for punishment." She added, "Even if victims go to the police, it is not easy to receive legal protection because they are in a legal blind spot. Since these are cases related to cryptocurrency or stocks, it is difficult to provide relief to victims. In the AI era, anyone can be deceived, but it is absurd that investigations cannot proceed due to lack of laws," raising her voice.

There is also insufficient management and monitoring of platform operators. CEO Kim explained, "Platforms spend enormous advertising budgets to run scammer advertisements. The more marketing expenses they spend, the more frequently the ads are exposed, so many people tend to believe the ads they see often online are true." She pointed out, "When capital and fake content combine, they exert a stronger force than the truth."

As the situation rapidly escalated, on the 28th, the Korea Communications Commission hastily requested cooperation from domestic and international platform industries to prevent the distribution of celebrity impersonation 'stock leading room' advertisements. The Commission sent official letters requesting voluntary regulation cooperation to Naver, Kakao, Google (operator of YouTube), and Meta (operator of Facebook and Instagram). The letter stated, "Recently, illegal advertisements have spread through information and communication networks by impersonating or misusing images of prominent figures in politics, economy, and entertainment to induce entry into stock leading rooms, raising concerns about harm to the impersonated parties and the public. We urgently request cooperation to prevent the distribution of impersonation illegal advertisements and related illegal use of chat room identities."

A police official explained, "The arrested criminals and organizations are diverse, but they expose advertisements through various channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, attracting victims. The actual crimes occur through KakaoTalk chat rooms or Naver Band, and platforms receive payment for advertising. This is why platforms need to strengthen their own review and filtering."