Ring moved $5.7 million of BTS Jungkook's stock during army service
Criminals opened a phone line with Jungkook's stolen personal data and passed every identity check to move $5.7 million of his stock while he was at military boot camp. The ring chose targets who could not check their phones, such as prison inmates and the recently dead. Jungkook and Jimin say the break-in attempts continue.
What happened
Criminals used Jungkook's stolen personal data to open a phone line and pass every identity check while he was in army boot camp. They then opened a brokerage account in his name and moved $5.7 million of his HYBE shares. His agency froze almost everything in time, but 500 shares had already been sold for about $90,000.
Why it matters
The scam worked because the victim could not check his phone; the group deliberately chose such targets and also went after prison inmates and the recently dead. Any company handling customer accounts, telecom or investments faces the same pattern: direct financial loss, lawsuits and reputational damage.
What to do
Review account and phone-line opening: require extra verification when the holder cannot be reached through usual channels and flag unusual movements. Prepare teams to freeze assets fast, as the agency did. Treat personal data alone as insufficient proof of identity.
For the technical team
- Affected
- Contas de investimento e linha telefônica abertas em nome de Jungkook, membro do BTS; grupo também visava presos e pesso · Phone line and brokerage account opened in Jungkook's name; 33,500 HYBE shares moved, of which 500 sold for about $90,000
- Exploitation
- Fraud completed, with the criminals' chats and details aired by broadcaster MBC. A Seoul court sentenced a Chinese national from the ring to 20 years in August. Jungkook and Jimin report ongoing attempts to break into their accounts
- Fix
- No software fix applies. Mitigation in this case: the agency froze the shares in time; the court ruled against the buyer of the 500 sold shares
- Vector
- Identity theft: the ring opened a phone line and a brokerage account with Jungkook's stolen personal data weeks after he enlisted, when he could not check his phone; the line passed every identity check. Targets were chosen for being unreachable: prison inmates and the recently dead
- More details
- In chats aired by MBC, one hacker mentioned a crypto-loving CEO who had died days earlier with coins likely not yet inherited; the reply was there was no way they would get caught. Jungkook sued to recover the 500 sold shares; the buyer claimed good faith, but the judge found serious negligence because the buyer was only told the shares were a major shareholder's stake and never checked whose
Timeline
Incident opened.
Sources 1 source
- @low_perplexity @low_perplexity
