"Frustrated as a Self-Employed Person"… Yang Chi-seung Angered by Loan Scam Text Messages

Sports trainer Yang Chi-seung. /Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] Amid ongoing damages to small business owners due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), famous sports trainer and broadcaster Yang Chi-seung expressed anger after receiving a fraudulent loan text message.

On the 22nd, Yang revealed a text message he received on social media (SNS), stating, "I was looking into loans due to business restrictions, and coincidentally, I received a message since this morning."

The message impersonated a financial institution, claiming that the government is providing special financial support to help small business owners recover from COVID-19 damages, and mentioned specific eligibility criteria.

The text stated, "Special financial support funds to alleviate the management burden of small enterprises and small business owners and to assist vulnerable low-income groups," offering loans ranging from a minimum of 20 million KRW to 150 million KRW per business. It instructed to apply through KakaoBank and even requested a copy of an ID card.

In response, Yang raised his voice, saying, "Seeing these inhuman beings who cunningly deceive by pretending to be government policy payments, exploiting the difficulties of self-employed and small business owners these days, makes me want to shove the COVID Omicron variant into their mouths."

A message received by Yang Chi-seung.
/Photo by Yang Chi-seung Instagram capture

Self-employed broadcasters and netizens who saw the message Yang shared left comments expressing sympathy. Comedian Kim Si-duk said, "As a self-employed person, I feel frustrated," to which Yang replied, "It was so tough these days that I almost fell for it."

Hong Seok-cheon, who has experience running several restaurants in Itaewon, Seoul, and later closing them, also commented, "I received it too, is it fake?" Yang responded, "It's fake. I have no idea how they steal phone numbers. I was completely deceived and almost got caught while checking it out. Be careful."

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