A South Korean woman in her fifties thought she was in a romantic relationship with Squid Game star Lee Jung-Jae and sent an online scammer over 500 million won ($350,000).
With AI technology readily available, scammers are taking their operations to a whole new level, taking advantage of the gullibility of people who believe the craziest things. Case in point, a 50-something woman from Miryang, South Korea, who thought she was in a long-distance relationship with Squid Game protagonist Lee Jung-Jae after being contacted by someone claiming to be the actor on social media. Using AI-generated images of the actor, the scammer managed to get close enough to the woman, referred to only as A. by South Korean media, to ask for considerable sums of money.
“This is actor Lee Jung-jae. I reached out to communicate with fans,” the scammer told the woman the first time they approached her on social media. Then, as they became familiar, the conversation moved to the messaging app KakaoTalk. The scammer began referring to the woman as “honey” and “sweetie,” and that made her feel like the Squid Game star had developed a romantic interest in her. When Lee Jung-Jae started asking her for money, she didn’t hesitate.
“He told me he would pay me back as soon as he returned to Korea. I believed him,” A. told police when she finally reported the scammer, but by that time, she had already sent them over 500 million won. Lee Jung-Jae came up with all sorts of reasons for needing money, like being stuck in a foreign airport with no way of returning home, but always backed his claims with AI-generated photos of his ID and driver’s license as insurance.
A. claims she once set the fake Lee Jung-Jae around $7,500 to pay for a VIP pass that would allow her to finally meet him in person. Unfortunately for her, something always came up, and their meeting never materialized. With a loss of over 500 million won and the constant pressure of sending the scammer even more money, the 50-something woman finally alerted the police about her situation.
The South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency confirmed that A. was the victim of a romance scam, but so far no one knows who impersonated Lee Jung-Jae. The case got so much attention in South Korea that the actor’s agency came out with a statement warning fans to never send money to anyone asking for it on behalf of the Squid Game star. Unfortunately, it’s too late for A., whose chances of getting her money back are slim to none.
A few months back, we wrote about the very similar case of a French woman who was scammed out of $850,000 by someone posing as Brad Pitt online.
