137 Celebrities Address Online Impersonation Crimes, “Estimated Damages over 1 Trillion Won”

On March 22, the “Group for Resolving Online Phishing Crimes by Impersonating Celebrities” (hereinafter referred to as “the Group”) held an official press conference and announced a statement urging the seriousness of online phishing crimes impersonating celebrities and calling for efforts from platforms and the government to resolve them.

It is known that since the start of last year, widespread celebrity impersonation scam, starting from Facebook and spreading to YouTube, KakaoTalk, Naver Band, and other platforms, has rapidly spread. 

According to the police, illegal activities including investment-leading rooms involving celebrity impersonation scams exceeded 1,000 cases and the damages exceeded 120 billion won (approx 89 million USD) from September to December last year. 

However, the Group estimated that the total damages from the victims preparing for actual lawsuits would exceed 1 trillion won (approx 750 million USD).

A total of 137 individuals expressed their support in the statement released on this day, including well-known celebrities such as Yoo Jae-suk, Kim Nam-gil, Baek Ji-young, Kim Sook, Hong Jin-kyung, Jin Sun-gyu, Um Jung-hwa, and so on.

Below is the full statement of the Group:

“We strongly urge the resolution of online phishing crimes impersonating celebrities.

Recently, fraudulent crimes impersonating celebrities have been rampant on online platforms. Starting from Facebook and Instagram last year, the crimes impersonating celebrities indiscriminately target individuals with fame and influence, including former presidents, business leaders, entertainers, professors, and YouTubers. They lure individuals with free books or high profits, then lead them to investment-leading rooms by showing fake profits, and demand deposits for investments or require collateral deposits to withdraw, then disappear, following typical voice phishing methods.

The biggest problem is that the voice phishing crime organizations, which were previously thought to operate underground, are now openly committing crimes through paid advertisements on public online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The confusion and damages caused by unfamiliar criminal methods are tremendous. As advertisements from reputable online platforms, more and more people are becoming victims of these crimes without suspicion.

According to the police agency, the number of cases of illegal activities in investment trading rooms, including impersonation scams targeting celebrities, from September to December last year alone exceeded 1,000, with damages totaling over 120 billion won. However, there are opinions from attorneys in charge of these cases that the total amount of damages suffered by actual victims will exceed 1 trillion won. 

From young adults who lost all their hard-earned savings from part-time jobs to those who lost their husbands’ cancer insurance money and even individuals who lost their lifelong retirement funds, there are countless astonishing stories of victims. Moreover, as fake advertisements proliferate, the trustworthiness of the entire platform advertising market is shaken, causing numerous advertisers to suffer losses. Most importantly, famous individuals whose names and portraits have been misappropriated are also in a situation where their expertise and honor built over decades are undermined, leading to misunderstandings and lawsuits against them, despite being victims of crime.

Until now, the affected celebrities have taken every possible measure individually. They have reported to the police, requested the deletion of impersonated accounts from platforms, and warned countless times through their channels and individual media interviews not to be deceived by impersonation scams. However, the perpetrators are not typical financial scammers but organized voice phishing groups. It is beyond the capability of individuals to prevent online phishing crimes that operate systematically with substantial advertising expenses poured in and conducted from overseas. Reporting to the police is difficult unless the reporter is a direct monetary victim, and it is also challenging to file complaints against criminals whose whereabouts are unknown. The situation on online platforms is even more serious.

Initially, we thought that actively disclosing the facts of the damage to the platforms would naturally lead to resolution. However, the world’s leading platform companies with state-of-the-art tech capabilities currently lack systems to filter out such criminal advertisements in advance. It is hard to believe, but this is the reality. In the current system, anyone can advertise if they pay, and post-response measures are passive and weak. It is difficult to find responsible persons, and we have heard countless responses stating that they cannot take action because the accounts do not violate their community guidelines. Despite reporting to platforms multiple times and having one account deleted, ten new fraudulent accounts appear the next day. In conclusion, online platform impersonation phishing crimes cannot be stopped or punished immediately. This is the shocking reality of the digital powerhouse we live in.

While the loss of reputation is also unjust, today we stand here with an urgent desire to prevent further victims of online phishing crimes impersonating celebrities. Therefore, we earnestly request the following from the citizens, the government, and the platforms:

Firstly, online platforms must acknowledge that numerous victims are being created due to their advertisements and take measures accordingly. Develop specific preventive measures through the system, disclose them to users, and fulfill their social responsibility by conducting online phishing prevention campaigns to prevent further victims.

Secondly, the government should classify online impersonation crimes as voice phishing crimes rather than typical financial frauds, establish a dedicated team for rigorous investigation, and vigorously prosecute criminals to the fullest extent. Additionally, promptly establish legal and regulatory measures to prevent increasingly sophisticated phishing crimes on online platforms.

Thirdly, we earnestly request citizens to not be deceived by the malicious tactics of those who impersonate us online. Individuals who approach you, urging you to join investment trading rooms promising huge earnings through our names and faces in online platform advertisements are all fake and are perpetrators of voice phishing crimes. Please do not fall for their despicable methods, and actively inform others about the dangers and seriousness of these crimes to prevent innocent victims. We will also do our best to collectively make efforts to prevent online phishing crime victims.”

Source: Naver