South Korean celebrities lose millions to online fraud as scams get smarter

As South Korea steps up efforts to protect its citizens from online fraud, celebrities in the country are warning against increasingly sophisticated phishing and phone scams by relating their personal encounters with such cases.

Entertainer Ji Seok-jin said one of his celebrity acquaintances lost 300 million won (US$213,000) to a voice phishing scam, The Korea Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

“They’re very smart, but they were told to click a website link – and once they did, it looked completely legitimate. They’re the kind of person you’d think would never fall for it,” Ji said on an episode of the YouTube show Jodongari on Monday.

Ji also had his own close call. “About 15 years ago, someone impersonating [South Korean comedian] Kim Gu-ra sent me a text saying: ‘Bro, it’s me, Gu-ra. Please send me 2 million won.’ I almost fell for it,” he said, as quoted by The Chosun Daily newspaper.

Luckily, something raised his suspicions enough to call Kim back. “I called right away to confirm, and it turned out to be fake. That was the early days of voice phishing.”

Ji appeared on the episode along with actors from Wavve Dramax’s latest crime drama Punishment, which explores voice phishing and deepfakes.

Punishment actor Ji Seung-hyun noted that voice phishing damages in South Korea totalled around 800 billion Korean won from January to July.