"Lawyer Counseling Victims"... Beware of '365 Center' Impersonation Ads on TikTok

BMCC and KAIT Issue Warning
Surge in Scams Targeting Personal Information and Money

There have been numerous cases where accounts impersonating the 'Online Damage 365 Center,' which provides nationwide counseling on various online damages through social networking services (SNS) such as TikTok, have attempted to commit financial fraud.

On October 2, the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission (hereafter referred to as "BMCC") and the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (hereafter referred to as "KAIT") urged the public to exercise particular caution, stating that there have been several recent attempts at financial fraud on SNS. These attempts involved impersonating the 'Online Damage 365 Center' to deceive victims seeking counseling, demanding personal information and money.

The 365 Center, operated by BMCC and KAIT since 2022, is a nationwide counseling center for various online damages, including secondhand transaction scams, restaurant rating sabotage, and malicious fake reviews. The center never requests money under any circumstances during counseling. In addition, lawyers, not counselors, do not conduct consultations for purposes such as filling out damage reports, nor do they request personal information through one-on-one messenger chats.

'Online Damage 365 Center' Impersonation Advertisement. Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission

The impersonating accounts recently identified posted advertisements for online damage counseling on TikTok and other platforms, pretending to be the 365 Center. When victims who saw these ads requested counseling, the impersonators provided contact information, claiming to be lawyers affiliated with the 365 Center. Subsequently, when the victims engaged in one-on-one messenger counseling with the fake lawyers, the impersonators demanded large sums of money under the pretense of connecting them to the National Security Center or the National Security Technology Center.

BMCC reported that, during September alone, 17 counseling cases related to impersonation were received by the 365 Center. It is known that some users reported their losses to the police after transferring money. The 365 Center became aware of the impersonation when victims inquired whether lawyers were actually affiliated with the center, leading them to report the incidents to the police and request investigations. The impersonating account was reported to TikTok and was immediately deleted. In addition, the center is strengthening its warnings against impersonation through Kakao notification messages, SNS, and its website to alert counseling users.

BMCC emphasized that, upon discovering any suspicious advertisements impersonating the 365 Center, individuals should immediately report the account to the SNS customer service center and refrain from sending any counseling-related messages to the impersonating account.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.