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Criminal ring busted for using deepfakes to net $8.4M through romance scams

Published: 30 Apr. 2025, 12:50

A criminal ring that used deepfake technology to impersonate attractive women and defraud hundreds of people through investment and romance scams has been busted by police, as shown through this evidence screenshot obtained by the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency. [ULSAN METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

A criminal ring that used deepfake technology to impersonate attractive women and defraud hundreds of people through investment and romance scams has been busted by police.

The Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency said Wednesday that it arrested 10 suspects on charges of organizing and participating in a criminal group and violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Another 35 individuals, including staff responsible for operating chat platforms, have been booked without detention.

Police said the group targeted more than 100 individuals and made off with an estimated 12 billion won ($8.39 million) in total since March 2024.

According to the investigation, the suspects set up an office in Cambodia where they used deepfake technology to create convincing images of beautiful women in their 30s. The faces were artificially generated using photos of ordinary people collected at random. Posing as virtual women, the suspects reached out to men through chat apps and social media platforms.

Once they caught someone’s interest, they staged romance scams — pretending to become a girlfriend while asking for money to cover living expenses, delivery fees or airline tickets.

To build trust and avoid detection, the scammers crafted detailed personas including blood type, education level, height, weight and MBTI personality type. They also built intimacy by holding video calls using the deepfakes.

“They created elaborate scripts,” said a police official. “One was said to be an only child raised in a military family, practicing Pilates and preparing to open a cafe.”

A victim is asked to send 5 million won ($3,490) by a scammer posing as a girlfriend on KakaoTalk. [ULSAN METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

The ring also lured victims into fraudulent stock or cryptocurrency investments, using pre-written scripts for up to 10 days of staged interaction. They created fake websites modeled on real companies and instructed victims to install apps and open investment accounts. Victims were led to believe they were investing through legitimate platforms, when in reality, the money was siphoned off into shell accounts and cryptocurrency wallets.

Police added that some of the victims were women, in which case the scammers posed as men.

Among the victims were people with disabilities, the elderly and homemakers. Individual damages ranged from 2 million won to more than 800 million won.

Authorities are working to extradite the operation’s ringleaders — a married couple currently detained in Cambodia — through Interpol, while continuing their investigation into other accomplices.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM YOUN-HO [[email protected]]