Scammers impersonate financial chiefs to lure retail investors online
Summary
Scammers have been impersonating prominent financial figures, including Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song, on social media to draw retail investors into unauthorized chat rooms and pitch investment schemes. A fake Shin account on Threads was removed after the BOK asked for it to be taken down. Similar impersonation accounts also appeared to target Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong and FSS Gov. Lee Chan-jin.
Key Facts
- The BOK said the fake account posing as Shin was suspended within a few hours after the platform operator was asked to remove it.
- Under current rules, anyone giving one-on-one investment advice or operating such a channel must be legally registered as an investment advisory business.
- The fake Instagram account impersonating FSS Gov. Lee Chan-jin used the name fsdkorea, which closely resembled the official account ID fsskorea.
- Figures submitted by the FSS showed 181.7 billion won in losses across 6,769 cases in the first three months of this year, while last year 11,468 cases caused 391.6 billion won in damage.
A fake Threads account impersonating Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song / Yonhap
Impersonating prominent figures such as Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Shin Hyun-song on social media has emerged as a common tactic among investment scammers, who use fake profiles to lure retail investors into unauthorized investment chat rooms and pitch investment opportunities.
The accounts use the officials' names, photos and career histories to appear legitimate, and promote investment-related content that could be linked to illegal investment schemes.
Most recently, a fake account posing as Shin appeared on Threads, writing about economic trends and investment information. The account did not publicly recommend specific stocks but encouraged users to send messages in order to join a group chat.
Users who entered the chat room were reportedly told they could receive stock recommendations and were asked to provide personal information.
The BOK requested the platform operator remove the fake account, which was suspended within a few hours.
"It is difficult to identify impersonation accounts in advance, but we will continue monitoring and take immediate action once they are found," a BOK official said.
Under current rules, anyone providing one-on-one investment advice or operating such a channel must be legally registered as an investment advisory business. However, many of these new chat rooms do not even disclose the names of the companies operating them.
A fake account posing as Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong was also recently found on Threads. It described itself as Jin's personal account and used the group's recent business priorities, including its artificial intelligence transformation drive, to appear authentic.
Shinhan Financial reported the account to the platform and requested its removal.
Earlier this month, a fake Instagram account impersonating Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Gov. Lee Chan-jin reportedly exploited the ongoing discussion over the agency's possible relocation to a site outside Seoul.
The account, named "fsdkorea," closely resembled the FSS' official account ID "fsskorea." It claimed to be raising funds for relocation costs and asked users to transfer money via Kakao Pay.
The scale of financial damage has added to concerns over the spread of investment-related phishing schemes.
Figures submitted by the FSS to Rep. Seo Il-jun of the main opposition People Power Party showed that victims lost 181.7 billion won ($134 million) across 6,769 cases in the first three months of this year. Last year, 11,468 cases caused a combined 391.6 billion won in financial damage.
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