Bank of Korea Governor impersonated in social media investment scams

Scammers are increasingly using social media to impersonate high-profile figures, including Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song, to lure victims into illegal stock investment “leading rooms.”

In recent incidents, fake accounts claiming to offer economic insights have encouraged users to join private group chats. Once inside these chats, scammers solicit personal information and promise double-digit returns on specific stock recommendations. While the Bank of Korea successfully requested the removal of the impersonating accounts, the fraudulent group chats often continue to operate on platforms like Telegram.

Data from the Financial Supervisory Service shows a significant scale of such crimes. In the first quarter of this year, investment-related phishing resulted in 6,769 cases with damages totaling approximately 181.7 billion won. In the previous year, total damages from such phishing reached 391.6 billion won across 11,468 cases. These scams frequently target not only financial leaders but also celebrities, influencers, and official YouTube channels.