BTS Jungkook, targeted by a SIM-cloning hacking group worth billions… His agency successfully defended with a zero won response

It has come to light that BTS member Jungkook was the target of a crime committed by an international hacking ring. Fortunately, thanks to his agency's swift response, no actual financial damage is reported to have occurred.

The Cyber Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said on the 21st that it had arrested an international hacking ring that stole the financial and personal information of celebrities and wealthy individuals using SIM-card cloning and illegal prepaid mobile phone activation methods. Police plan to sequentially send 32 members of the organization, including two Chinese ringleaders, to prosecutors on charges including violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

According to police, from May 2022 to April last year, the suspects hacked government, public institution, and private-sector sites to obtain personal and financial information, then continued their crimes by cloning victims' SIM cards or illegally activating prepaid mobile phones in the victims' names. Investigators found that they accessed victims' bank accounts and virtual asset accounts using the authentication information they obtained.

In particular, the group is understood to have focused on socially prominent figures and wealthy individuals who would have difficulty responding immediately, such as those staying overseas, serving in the military, or in custody. Among the victims were 12 entertainers and influencers, including Jungkook, as well as conglomerate heads and executives.

Jungkook was also included among the hacking victims, but it is reported that the incident did not lead to financial damage because his agency, after recognizing signs of abnormality, responded immediately.

As a result of this case, the personal and financial information of a total of 271 people was leaked, and police explained that 28 of them actually suffered financial damage or came close to doing so. The scale of the damage was found to amount to about 73.4 billion won in total, including 25 billion won in attempted theft. The amount actually stolen was about 48.4 billion won.

Police said that after about four years of investigation, they arrested the ringleaders in Thailand and brought them back to Korea, and that through cooperation with financial institutions they recovered about 21.3 billion won in 피해 funds. They also shared the method of this crime through Interpol's international cooperation network and began working with telecom companies and related agencies to establish additional measures to prevent further damage.