Why So Many Stars for Mediocre Taste?... Viral Group Made 1.9 Billion Won Boosting Hospitals and Restaurants With Fake Reviews

Search Rankings Manipulated Using Stolen Accounts, 24 People Including Advertising Executives Apprehended



Police Seize 1.785 Billion Won in Criminal Proceeds

An illegal viral marketing organization that systematically manipulated reviews for hospitals and restaurants to boost search rankings and collected criminal proceeds of around 1.9 billion won has been apprehended by the police.

On July 20, the Cybercrime Division of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it had arrested and referred Mr. A, the de facto operator of an advertising execution agency, to the prosecutor's office on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act and obstruction of business. In addition, 24 people, including advertising agency affiliates, advertisers, and a program developer, have also been apprehended.

From October 2020 to January this year, they are accused of posting a total of 28,886 fake positive reviews using stolen accounts on internet platforms with the purpose of boosting the search rankings of hospitals and restaurants.

According to the police investigation, the group earned criminal proceeds worth about 1.9 billion won by raising the exposure rankings of client companies through fake reviews.

Examples of Fake Reviews.
[Image Source=Busan Police Agency]

The investigation focused on uncovering the organizational structure of the criminal operation, which involved advertisers, ad agencies, execution agencies, and program developers.

The advertisers, who operated hospitals and restaurants, provided ad agencies with customer payment receipts and business photos, requesting them to write reviews as though they were genuine users.

The ad agencies passed these instructions to the execution agencies, who then posted fake reviews using stolen accounts purchased in bulk via Telegram. In this process, the program developers created IP-masking software and automated macros to bypass portal security systems and provided these to the execution agencies.

The execution agency operators selected usable stolen accounts via the macro program and repeatedly posted fake positive reviews on internet platforms to boost the search exposure rankings of client companies.

The police seized and preserved a total of 1.785 billion won in criminal proceeds from Mr. A and the nominal representative, Mr. B, before indictment. They also notified the internet platform companies about the stolen accounts, and the platforms have reportedly completed protective measures for a significant number of those accounts.

An official from the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency stated, "Manipulating reviews is a serious crime that deceives consumers and deprives legitimate small business owners of business opportunities. We will continue to investigate connections between review manipulation firms and advertising clients, and will aggressively pursue the confiscation and collection of illegal profits."

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