Broadcaster Hong Suk-chun exposed an account impersonating him that was luring people to join an investment group, urging caution.
On Monday, Hong posted a screenshot of a message sent by the fake account on his Instagram, writing, "This is an impersonator. They cleverly made the ID. Be careful."
The impersonator created the fake account by replacing the number "1" in Hong's real ID with the capital letter "I." The two characters look nearly identical in the similar font, making them hard to tell apart visually. The fake account also used the same profile picture as Hong's current account.
The impersonating account sent messages to random users, saying, "I am very sorry for the trouble. I have created a completely free study group," and, "We share practical tips and economic and stock information that help grow assets every day, so even beginner investors can easily learn," urging them to join the investment group.
It then added, "There is no restriction on joining. If you reply with '1,' I will immediately send you an invitation to join," prompting recipients to respond.
Hong also flagged similar impersonation in July, writing at the time, "People have been contacting me asking if it's really me, but I do not have a secondary account."
Meanwhile, Hong has continued running restaurants alongside his broadcasting career. Appearing recently on the YouTube channel Pissik University, he said, "I have eight restaurants in Itaewon alone, and if you count all my restaurants nationwide, there are about 14."
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