Illegal Reading Rooms Flourish Amid Martial Law... Financial Supervisory Service Issues Consumer Alert

#Victim A accessed an illegal leading chat room last September and began investing through a fake Mobile Trading System (MTS). The fraudsters fabricated profits close to 100 million KRW without any initial investment, and when the victim requested to withdraw the profits, they delayed the withdrawal citing President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law as an excuse and demanded additional deposits. They extorted funds by claiming that further deposits were necessary in response to the Financial Supervisory Service's request to investigate the source of funds.

As financial crimes harming the public, such as investment scams, have surged by exploiting the unstable political situation, the Financial Supervisory Service issued a consumer alert of 'Caution' on the 11th.

The Financial Supervisory Service warned not to comply with any deposit requests for source-of-funds verification, even if they claim that the investigation is waived due to martial law. They advised heightened vigilance as illegal operators are likely to exploit the recent political situation to perpetrate investment scams under the pretense of political theme stock investments or financial authorities' money laundering investigations.

Furthermore, they emphasized not to be deceived by online advertisements offering free stock lectures or financial books, and to avoid any financial transactions with companies that induce installation of private stock trading applications (apps).