Scammers impersonate financial chiefs to lure retail investors online

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.

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.

Published Sep 27, 2026 3:39 pm KST

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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诈骗分子在社交媒体上冒充包括韩国央行行长申铉松在内的知名金融人士，诱骗散户投资者进入未经授权的聊天室，兜售投资骗局。韩国央行要求删除Threads平台上一个冒充申铉松的虚假账户后，该账户已被移除。类似的冒充账户似乎也针对新韩金融集团会长晋玉东和韩国金融安全院院长李灿镇。

韩国央行表示，在要求平台运营商删除冒充申宗宪的虚假账户后几个小时内，该账户就被封禁。

根据现行规定，任何提供一对一投资建议或运营此类渠道的人都必须依法注册为投资咨询企业。

冒充韩国财政部长李灿镇的虚假 Instagram 账号使用了 fsdkorea 这个名称，与官方账号 ID fsskorea 非常相似。

韩国金融安全局提交的数据显示，今年前三个月共发生6769起事故，造成1817亿韩元损失；而去年同期发生11468起事故，造成3916亿韩元损失。

发布于2026年9月27日下午3:39（韩国标准时间）

一个冒充韩国央行行长申铉松的虚假Threads账户 / 韩联社

在社交媒体上冒充韩国央行行长申铉松等知名人士已成为投资诈骗分子常用的伎俩，他们使用虚假个人资料引诱散户投资者进入未经授权的投资聊天室，并推销投资机会。

这些账户使用官员的姓名、照片和职业经历来伪装成合法账户，并推广可能与非法投资计划有关的投资相关内容。

最近，一个冒充Shin的虚假账户出现在Threads论坛上，发布有关经济趋势和投资信息的内容。该账户并未公开推荐具体股票，而是鼓励用户发送消息加入群聊。

据报道，进入聊天室的用户被告知可以收到股票推荐，并被要求提供个人信息。

韩国央行要求平台运营商删除虚假账户，该账户在几个小时内就被封禁。

“提前识别冒充账户很困难，但我们会继续监控，一旦发现就会立即采取行动，”韩国央行一位官员表示。

根据现行规定，任何提供一对一投资建议或运营此类渠道的人员都必须合法注册为投资咨询公司。然而，许多此类新型聊天室甚至没有披露运营公司的名称。

最近，Threads 上还发现了一个冒充新韩金融集团董事长金玉东的虚假账户。该账户自称是金玉东的个人账户，并利用集团近期的业务重点，包括人工智能转型计划，来伪装成真实账户。

新韩金融已向平台举报该账户并要求将其删除。

据报道，本月初，一个冒充韩国金融监督院院长李灿镇的虚假 Instagram 账户利用了有关该机构可能迁往首尔以外地区的讨论。

该账户名为“fsdkorea”，与韩国联邦安全局（FSS）的官方账户ID“fsskorea”非常相似。该账户声称正在筹集搬迁费用，并要求用户通过Kakao Pay转账。

巨大的经济损失加剧了人们对投资相关网络钓鱼诈骗蔓延的担忧。

韩国金融安全院（FSS）向主要反对党国民力量党议员徐日俊提交的数据显示，今年前三个月，韩国共发生6769起案件，受害者损失1817亿韩元（约合1.34亿美元）。去年同期，韩国共发生11468起案件，造成的经济损失达3916亿韩元。

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基于人工智能的反钓鱼平台避免了超过4760万美元的经济损失。