Financial authorities have urged caution, saying there have been cases in which middle-aged people in their 50s and 60s were deceived by 'fake' and 'spliced' accounts impersonating celebrities and suffered losses after investing retirement funds amounting to hundreds of millions of won in illegal stock-tipping chatrooms (pseudo-investment-advisory chatrooms).

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said on the 28th that, using a recently introduced artificial intelligence (AI)-based real-time monitoring system to examine illegal financial activities related to so-called pinfluencers (finance + influencer), it detected numerous cases in which scammers impersonated celebrities or posed as financial companies to siphon off investment funds.

According to the FSS, victims were concentrated mainly among people in their 50s and 60s. An analysis of 17 related tips and complaints received by the FSS through April this year showed that 70.6% (12 cases) involved this middle-aged group.

They typically invested lump sums of retirement savings set aside for old age and were then defrauded. The average loss per person was about 180 million won. Losses ranged from as little as 25 million won to as much as 380 million won.

By region, residents of the greater Seoul area, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, accounted for 47.1% (8 cases), a high share.

In many instances, operators of the illegal chatrooms impersonated celebrities.

These operators used the profiles and logos of channels run by real, well-known pinfluencers and spliced existing videos. In the comment sections of actual pinfluencer channels, they disguised themselves as the person in question and posted app installation links or website addresses, claiming, "There is a premium information chatroom," and, once they had successfully recruited investors, they deleted the comments.

Victims who fell for this were invited to illegal stock tip chatrooms and, after investing large sums, suffered losses.

There were also cases in which scammers claimed to be running an investment project with a financial company, diverted investment funds to separate accounts, and then vanished. In some instances, they even purchased existing popular overseas sports or gaming YouTube channels, converted them into stock channels, and perpetrated fraud.

This investigation was conducted as the FSS shifted from manual monitoring to an AI-based real-time system. The FSS automatically detects new videos on monitored channels, and AI extracts voice and subtitles to classify the degree of illegality. Based on court rulings and analyses of tips and market information, the agency then immediately notifies investigative authorities or takes administrative action.

An FSS official emphasized, "Regulated financial companies do not request deposits into accounts under another person's name, and they do not induce the installation of investment apps through group chat rooms."

The official also advised that when investment information services are offered on social media under names such as 'Economy TV' or 'Investment Research Institute,' people should verify whether the provider is a regulated financial institution or a similar investment-advisory provider.