Individual A joined a Naver Band group run by an employee of a famous securities company after seeing an advertisement recommending stocks that are rapidly rising on social network services (SNS). Individual A installed an investment application (app) as recommended by the employee and earned revenue through stock transactions. However, the withdrawal was denied. It turned out that the employee's claim of working for a securities company was a lie and the app was also fake.
On the 23rd, the Financial Supervisory Service identified 1,428 posts and financial investment sites impersonating financial companies to defraud funds and requested the Korea Communications Commission to block them. Among these, 60 cases with specific allegations were referred to the Korean National Police Agency for investigation.
The most common type of illegal financial investors reported for investigation were those impersonating securities companies with 28 cases of investment brokerage. There were 14 cases of investment consulting disguised as stock information provision, and 11 cases of investment trading.
There were also cases of impersonating foreign securities companies. These individuals advertised foreign investment products such as overseas futures by promising high returns in a short period. Illegal operators lured investors with advertisements claiming to offer lectures or books for trading overseas futures by pretending to be affiliated with domestic securities companies or impersonating foreign securities companies. They induced the installation of their own fabricated investment apps under the pretext of illegal account lending.
They defrauded investors when they deposited investment funds and refused to refund their principal, claiming that the futures prices plummeted and incurred losses. They also defrauded additional investment funds by demanding re-deposits to resume transactions. When investors raised issues, they shut down chat rooms and disappeared.
Frauds related to private FX margin trading were also detected. The illegal operators held investment briefing sessions, luring people by promising high returns using new investment techniques with artificial intelligence. Similarly, they induced the installation of fake apps and embezzled the funds when investors deposited them.
There were also cases where they disguised themselves as investment experts on platforms like YouTube and demanded membership fees while claiming to provide differentiated stock leading services. When investors requested to withdraw their membership or refund their fees, they demanded additional payments such as penalties.
The FSS stated, "We will quickly refer cases related to illegal financial investors through reports and tips, as well as internal monitoring," and noted, "We will strengthen cooperation with relevant institutions for effective crackdowns on illegal activities."