In a shocking turn of events, A, a 36-year-old woman from South Korea, has been sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay back over 31 billion won for scamming 44 victims out of over 160 billion won through stock investments. A pretended to be a stock market expert and lured her victims with promises of high returns, but instead, she swindled them out of their hard-earned money.
A flaunted her ill-gotten gains by purchasing luxury sports cars, high-end watches, and designer handbags, among other things. She even posted photos of herself online posing as a successful stock market investor and went by the moniker ‘stock market guru’ and ‘Insta ajumma’ (auntie). A managed to amass a following of over 26,000 people by falsely claiming to have worked at a private investment firm and falsely presenting herself as a savvy investor.
A used a “phone scam” method where she used new investor’s money to pay back old investors, keeping the scam going until she was eventually caught. Her victims, who lost an average of 400 million won each, were devastated by the scam and the news of her arrest.
The judge presiding over her case described A’s actions as bold and malicious, noting that she repeatedly manipulated her investment returns and account balances to deceive her victims. In addition to the prison sentence and the fine, the judge ordered A’s assets to be seized, and she was barred from working in the financial industry in the future.
This case serves as a warning to those who seek financial advice online and to be cautious when investing. It also highlights the importance of doing thorough research and due diligence before entrusting someone with your hard-earned money.
