Woman’s Fake Romance With “Squid Game” Star Lee Jung Jae Ends In Disaster
On October 21, KST, JTBC reported on a heartbreaking case of a woman in her 50s, who lost tens of millions of won after coming into contact with Lee Jung Jae, or at least that’s who she believed him to be.
The victim, “A,” a woman in her 50s, was contacted through social media by someone claiming to be the popular actor, saying that he wanted to communicate with his fans. This wasn’t a naïve case of catfishing where the victim just believed their word of mouth. The actual individuals behind the account went to extreme lengths to appear authentic, using generative AI to create fake airport selfies of Lee. They shared the photos with Ms. A, claiming that Lee was filming Squid Game 3. Ms. A was also shown a counterfeit driver’s license of the actor.
After successfully winning Ms. A’s trust, the scammers shifted the conversation to Kakaotalk. She was so convinced of him being the actual Lee Jung Jae that when he started asking for money, she didn’t hesitate to comply. They started calling each other “honey” and “sweetheart,” leading Ms. A to believe that she was in a romantic relationship with the award-winning actor. The fake account reassured her that she would get her money back once “Lee Jung Jae” returned to Korea.
In one instance, this fake Lee Jung Jae asked Ms. A to send him ₩10.0 million KRW (about $6,980 USD) to issue a “VIP fan meeting card.” Later, he told her that he had been detained at the US airport and needed even more money, which she sent her promptly. At one point, another accomplice approached Ms. A, posing as the management of Lee Jung Jae, and told her that they could arrange a personal meeting with the actor in exchange for ₩6.00 million KRW (about $4,190 USD). In the span of about six months, the total money she ended up sending to the scammers amounted to ₩500 million KRW (about $349,000 USD).
The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, which has taken over the investigation, is reportedly pursuing all possible leads, including connections to a Cambodian criminal organization, to track down the perpetrators. The Miryang Police Station, which began the investigation, revealed that even after the investigation was launched, the scammers continued messaging Ms. A, posing as Lee and asking for her trust.
On October 22, KST, Lee’s agency issued an official statement clarifying that neither their management nor the actor himself had anything to do with this crime. They also warned fans not to respond to messages posing as the agency or any of their artists while asking for money or any other form of financial support.
