The Financial Supervisory Service warned that illegal, unregistered deposit-taking schemes spreading fake news while promising principal guarantees and high returns could thrive by exploiting the market turmoil after the U.S. airstrike on Iran. It also issued a related consumer alert and urged investors to exercise special caution.
On the 9th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it issued a consumer alert, "caution," and introduced related damage cases to prevent financial crimes that harm livelihoods by riding on market turmoil originating from the Middle East.
Most illegal operators approached investors in periods of heightened market volatility by exploiting the desire for safe assets or fixed returns. In the process, they cleverly produced videos of alleged investment success stories and business plans to lure investors.
First, there are cases where an illegal firm collected investment funds from victims by promising high returns and principal guarantees through a fake financial investment program it created. The illegal operators tell investors they will repay without objection if principal and interest are claimed even before the maturity date.
However, when the agreed dividends were not paid and the investor demanded them or requested the return of investment funds, the operators refused or went into hiding.
The FSS emphasized that there is particular concern that such illegal firms' unregistered deposit-taking activities could prevail in the current environment of heightened volatility due to the situation in the Middle East.
Second are cases of raising funds under the pretense of investing in new technology development. Illegal operators falsely posted interviews of fake investor testimonials on YouTube and elsewhere under the guise of investing in new technologies such as hydrogen energy, drones, and art-tech, and lured victims to manipulated homepages or group chat rooms that made them appear to be normal firms.
They demanded deposits while frequently changing accounts using borrowed-name or shell accounts, and lured victims into KakaoTalk or company chat rooms to guide them to accounts through one-on-one consultations. Afterward, when victims requested the return of their investment funds, they demanded additional payments citing taxes, or deliberately delayed returning funds, then soon shut down the website and chat rooms and disappeared.
Lastly are cases of luring victims with financial planning consultations such as real estate consulting. Under the pretext of real estate consulting and financial consulting, they approached victims and induced investments in sham businesses, saying high returns and principal were guaranteed. However, when victims requested repayment of investment funds, they delayed and vanished.
Recently, there have also been cases where illegal operators encouraged victims to take out loans to invest, creating an additional burden of repaying principal and interest on those loans, prompting the need for caution.
An FSS official said, "There is no investment that offers high returns while guaranteeing principal," and noted, "Fake online investment success stories may be generated by artificial intelligence (AI), so take particular care, and for investments in unfamiliar areas such as new technology development businesses, be sure to check the business details."