The Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) has announced that it will intensify its crackdown on financial crimes that infringe on people’s livelihood, such as ‘investment reading rooms,’ until June 30 this year. Investment reading room fraud is a crime that uses KakaoTalk open chat rooms to spread false investment information to lure victims into investing in stocks or coins and then stealing their investment money.
According to Noodle Capital, there have been frequent scams in investment leading rooms using KakaoTalk public chat rooms, so people should be cautious. The scam involves windbreakers disguising themselves as dozens of people through cannon accounts and multiple access programs, and they are connected to a fake home trading system (HTS) to cheat as if the recommended items are skyrocketing.
The investment reading room scams appear in various types, such as fake HTS, sales of unlisted stocks, sales of crypto assets (market manipulation), and internet loan scams under the name of compensation for losses. The most representative type of scam is the HTS scam, where individuals are asked to pay 50,000 won ($40) for a recent deposit of 100,000 won ($80), saying that a 50% profit has been made in a few days.
After a case of high profits with unlisted stocks is known, false information is provided to sell unlisted stocks or impersonation of an investment company employee to show fake official documents in the name of the Financial Services Commission or Financial Supervisory Service.
A new approach is also emerging where individuals are defrauded by approaching them in the name of ‘loss compensation’ and receiving personal information such as identification cards, saying that they will give crypto assets free of charge as compensation, and then receiving internet loans in the name of the victims.
An official from Noodle Capital advised people to be cautious when someone they do not know recommends investing with a guarantee of principal and high returns. They should always check with the financial authorities.
The KNPA has emphasized that they will be cracking down on these crimes, which infringe on people’s livelihoods, and have urged people to report any suspicious activities to the police. The public is advised to be cautious and vigilant against these types of fraud and to seek the help of the authorities if they have been a victim of investment reading room fraud.
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