IU also fell victim to celebrities targeted by scams

IU and Blackpink's Lisa were also victims of fraud.

In the 120th episode of KBS2's 'Year-Round Plus', which aired on the 16th, cases of stars who were targets of fraud were revealed.

A scam that celebrities often fall into is a scam that uses trust. In one broadcast, Kim Sang-hyuk revealed that he had been defrauded of 100 million won by someone he trusted. Kim Hyun-sook also attracted attention by revealing the 10-year trauma of trusting her co-worker's husband, but being defrauded twice, causing her to stop eating and drinking, and not being able to sleep without sleeping pills. Joo Young-hoon's wife Lee Yun-mi also said, "In the early stages of my pregnancy, I used an agent to boldly invest in Jeju Island land that was up for auction, but it turned out that the auction was canceled a month ago."

Baekga, who made a large profit through real estate investment during the development of Gimpo New Town, also said, "A close friend of mine was investing in stocks, and he said he would guarantee the principal. He said he would give me exactly 3 times the money if I gave him the money. I sold all 3 houses to him and gave him all the money. “I couldn’t contact you,” he confessed.

Regarding the fact that celebrities often fall victim to this kind of fraud, a cultural critic said, "In the case of famous celebrities, there is a problem that the public pays a lot of attention and even the slightest mistake can lead to a lot of criticism. So, if possible, they try not to come forward themselves. They leave everything to their acquaintances instead of themselves. “Looking at it, there are cases where people get scammed in the process,” he analyzed.

The second was fraud due to delegation. Tiger JK was defrauded of 5 billion won by his agency. Although his album was released in August 2009 and became a huge success, his agency completely hid the sales related to Tiger JK. At the time, the agency not only said to Tiger JK, "You are a minus singer. You owe the company 100 to 200 million won," and when they filmed the commercial, they said, "You are a non-mainstream rapper, so we lobbied to film the commercial, which actually cost us money." This is what an entertainment industry insider explained.

Blackpink Lisa was also the victim of fraud by her manager. An entertainment industry official said, "In 2020, Lisa was defrauded by a former Blackpink manager worth 1 billion won. In the case of Mr. A, he was a manager who had been with him since his debut, so he was someone the members trusted. He took advantage of this and approached Lisa. "It appears to be true. He asked for money to look for real estate in Korea, so in effect, he extorted about 1 billion won. It was revealed that he squandered the entire amount through gambling," he said.

Regarding this, the lawyer said, "Due to the nature of celebrities' jobs, they cannot handle their work on their own. In many cases, contracts are entrusted to the agency, but there are also many cases in which the ID card and seal are entrusted to the manager or agency. Agents who have been given full authority use the name to create bad intentions. “I eat it,” he said.

There were also victims of casting fraud using dreams. IU appeared on a variety show and said, "All companies that ask for money are scams. I worked for a lot of companies that asked me to pay for school fees. I was scammed by about 3 companies. They usually ask for about 3 million won." Girls' Day Sojin also confessed, "They said I could become a singer if I paid 2 million won for 6 months, but it turned out to be a scam. They just took the money and ran away."

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr