Recently, the entertainment industry has been struggling due to financial blackmail scams
On February 24th, singer Jo Kwon revealed that he had been targeted by an impersonator for financial blackmail, stating that there would be no leniency. His agency Archive Achim announced, “We have received reports that someone obtained personal information about our artist Jo Kwon and used it for financial blackmail.”
The agency continued “This is clearly an illegal act, and we take it very seriously. We have already appointed the law firm Hoam and initiated legal action. Furthermore, we will take all possible legal measures against these malicious criminal acts without any leniency or settlements”, demonstrating a firm stance.
On February 5th, Wonder Girls’ Sunye reported that she had fallen victim to hacking. She posted on her personal channel, “My existing account was hacked. Please help prevent secondary damage.”
Sunye then shut down her existing channel and created a new one, tagging acquaintances such as Jo Kwon, Kahi and Se7en to alert them about the situation. She also revealed an email from the hacker, which contained a threatening message, “We hacked your account. Pay us money in exchange for returning it.”
Despite the distress, Sunye showed resilience, saying, “It’s an absurd situation, but I’m okay. The new year is a fresh start.”
On February 12th, former Apink member and actress Son Na-eun reported her case to the police through her agency YG Entertainment. YG stated, “Actress Son Na-eun’s personal phone was hacked. The hacker illegally obtained data and demanded money in exchange for not disclosing it. Wanting to protect her family and acquaintances, Son Na-eun complied with their demands once.”
YG continued, “However, the hacker did not stop there and made additional monetary demands, escalating the threats. They even contacted her family, causing severe mental distress. The case is already under formal police investigation, and we firmly state that we will take strong legal action against all crimes related to privacy invasion and blackmail.”
As malicious crimes targeting celebrities continue, concerns are growing among their acquaintances and fans.