Song Eun-yi Recommending Stock Investment? ... Celebrity Photo Theft Rampant on SNS

Facebook 'Free Book Giveaway' and Other Investment Solicitation Ads
Victims Include Celebrities Song Eun-yi and Hong Jin-kyung Due to Photo Misuse

Recently, advertisements impersonating celebrities to solicit investments have been rampant on social networking services (SNS), and comedian Song Eun-i also warned the public by revealing that her photo was misused.

On the 17th, Song Eun-i posted on her Instagram, "I am sharing this in case anyone sees this content and suffers damage. There are many cases of advertisements that composite books onto photos of celebrities and public figures, so please be cautious."

Advertisement using stolen photos of comedians Song Eun-yi and Kim Sook. [Image source=Facebook capture]

The photo Song posted was a screenshot of a 'Free Book Giveaway' advertisement on Facebook, showing a promotion of a book with phrases like 'stock investment' alongside comedian Kim Sook. She wrote, "This is an illegal advertisement with a book composited unlawfully," adding, "It is unauthorized use and has nothing to do with us."

Entertainers such as Hong Jin-kyung, actress Lee Young-ae, comedian Jang Dong-min, as well as well-known figures like Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, Kim Jong-in, former emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, and Joo Jin-hyung, former CEO of Hanwha Investment & Securities, have also suffered similar impersonation damages.

These ads use their photos with phrases like "I learned a lot by reading very professional investment books," "To repay the long-standing support, we prepared 5,000 physical books to give away for free," and "Join the free stock education program," to lure people and are suspected of inducing illegal stock trading chat room memberships.

In response, Hong Jin-kyung stated, "I do not operate any stock chat rooms. There are many such false advertisements, so please do not be deceived and report them to prevent victims."

Advertisement impersonating Joo Jin-hyung, former CEO of Hanwha Investment & Securities. [Image source=Facebook capture]

Former CEO Joo Jin-hyung also said, "Recently, advertisements impersonating me to offer stock investment consultations have been circulating. They have nothing to do with me, and such acts are illegal, so please do not be misled."

He added, "When I reported these accounts posting such ads as fake accounts to Facebook, they replied that it does not violate their community guidelines. In other countries, impersonating a person is illegal, but in Korea, it is still not considered illegal," he pointed out.

This issue was also raised at the National Assembly audit on the 19th. In response, Ko Hak-su, chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, said, "There is a legal provision that allows deletion or blocking of information exposed without personal consent," adding, "We will internally review what measures can be taken based on this and communicate with other government departments."

Meanwhile, the Korea Communications Commission stated, "We are reviewing and requesting corrections regarding illegal financial information advertisements that induce stock investments and advertisements infringing portrait rights."

They also added, "In cooperation with related organizations such as the Korea Communications Standards Commission, we will strive to prevent secondary damage by reviewing and requesting corrections (blocking, deletion) of advertisements impersonating others to induce investments on online platforms."

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