Fraud Victims from Idol Photocard Resale Transactions Surge, Warning Issued for Crimes Targeting Teenagers

Middle school student A (15) was scammed out of 95,000 won while attempting to purchase a photocard from a popular idol group in a KakaoTalk open chat room earlier this year.

Although A transferred the money to the seller, the other party immediately ceased communication, leading A to file a complaint against the account holder with the police.

As a result of the investigation, it was revealed that the account holder was B, a teenager of a similar age to A. B explained that she had been asked by a certain Kim to transfer her account number with the offer of receiving 5,000 won for lending it.

B confessed that she transferred the 95,000 won she received straight to Kim. Notably, B was a disabled teenager and had been approached by Kim with the proposal to lend her name for the account.

Accounts of Minors Misused as Proxy Accounts, 2 Men in Their 20s Sent to Prosecutor’s Office

The Gangdong Police Station of Seoul announced on the 9th that they recently sent Kim and another man in their 20s to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office on fraud charges without detention.

They committed a total of 9 fraud cases using similar methods, also utilizing minors' accounts as "proxy accounts," as seen in B's case.

Victims have been estimated to have lost around 1.8 million won, with police stating, "Frauds using the same method have repeatedly occurred on photocard resale platforms and open chat rooms, with a significant number of victims being teenagers."

The market for idol group photocards, which has recently gained popularity among teenagers, is rapidly expanding. The revenue of the photocard resale platform "Pocamarket" was 7.8 billion won last year, an increase of 1.9 billion won compared to the previous year.

Additionally, transactions involving photocards and other idol merchandise on the resale platform "Bungaejangter" reached 72 billion won last year. As the market size grows, consumer reports of fraud are also on the rise.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency, consumer complaints related to fandom marketing received by the Consumer Counseling Center increased from 123 cases in 2019 to 299 cases in 2022, more than doubling. Among these, complaints related to "photocards and posters" accounted for 208 cases (23%), the largest proportion.

Image source: Data photo for understanding the article / gettyimagesbank, Photocards sold on the photocard resale platform ‘Pocamarket.’ / Capture from Pocamarket