Man in 30s Given Suspended Sentence for Stealing Personal Info of 1,000 People via Fake 'Government Loan' Ads

A man in his 30s who created a fake website mimicking a government-backed microloan program for low-income earners and illegally collected the personal information of about 1,000 people has received a suspended prison sentence.

Gwangju District Court Judge Seo Ji-hye of Criminal Division 4 announced today (August 31) that she sentenced 38-year-old A, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, along with an order to forfeit 53.43 million won.

The court also ordered A to perform 200 hours of community service.

Operating an internet business for about four months starting in June 2024, A posted false advertisements claiming to offer government-supported low-interest financial products for ordinary citizens, thereby gathering sensitive personal data—such as names, resident registration numbers, and asset statuses—from 1,025 customers.

The collected personal information was handed over to illegal private lenders.

A pocketed around 53.4 million won in commissions from the illegal lending businesses, and some of the leaked personal information is presumed to have been used in voice phishing scams.

The court also sentenced five individuals who worked as telephone operators at A's internet business and participated in the unauthorized collection of personal information to fines ranging from 3 million won to 5 million won each.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.