Illegal Finfluencer Fraud and Protecting Middle-Aged and Older Investors: Analysis Report

Market summary and analysis 

The Financial Supervisory Service has launched an AI-based real-time monitoring system and uncovered a large number of illegal financial fraud rings impersonating famous finfluencers to target the retirement savings of people in their 50s and 60s 

 

Damage is concentrated among middle-aged and older people who are vulnerable to sophisticated digital fraud techniques, and it is emerging as a serious social problem

 

Key fraud techniques of illegal finfluencers 

Impersonating and stealing famous channels: They spliced together the profiles and videos of real famous YouTubers to create fake channels, or posed as the real person in the comment sections of genuine videos to lure people into joining illegal stock-tip chat rooms 

 

Buying and disguising channels: They bought popular overseas sports or gaming YouTube channels, repurposed them as stock channels, used fake projects supposedly partnered with major financial companies as bait to divert investment money into personal accounts, and then disappeared

 

Implications and countermeasures from an investor's perspective 

Fraud targeting retirement savings is rampant, with average losses per person reaching 180 million won 

 

Investors should be aware that being urged to install an investment app through a group chat room, or being asked to deposit money into an account in someone else's name, is 100% fraud 

 

When getting investment information on social media and elsewhere, it is essential to take a defensive stance and thoroughly verify whether the company is a regulated financial institution or an officially registered quasi-investment advisory business