A Korean Influencer Who Pretended To Be A Wealthy “Stock Expert” Scams Victims Into Trusting Her With Their Money

An influencer who portrayed herself as an expert in the stock market on her Instagram has been sentenced to prison for a ₩16.0 billion KRW (about $12.5 million USD) fraud.

The Supreme Court’s Second Division announced on July 28  that they had confirmed the lower court’s ruling, which sentenced 37-year-old Lee Seul Bi for fraud to 8 years in prison and a fine of ₩3.16 billion KRW (about $2.46 million USD).

Starting in March 2015, influencer Lee Seul Bi became well-known as the so-called “stock mom” or “Instagram ajumma,” and she was known for her expertise in the stock market. She attracted around 26,000 followers on Instagram, and she consistently showed off her lavish and wealthy lifestyle with her family to her followers.

However, in reality, Lee Seul Bi was in a financially difficult situation, suffering losses of ₩4.20 billion KRW (about $3.28 million USD) from stock and futures trading—to the extent that she couldn’t pay off her credit card debt, apartment management fees, and bank loan interest. This did not stop her from regularly posting manipulated pictures on her Instagram, making it appear that she earned profits of several million to several tens of million won through stock trading.

Lee Seul Bi was accused of deceiving victims from April 2017 to July 2021; she deceived victims who believed her to be a “stock expert” after seeing her Instagram by telling them that she would guarantee fixed monthly profits of 7-10% and promising to return the principal whenever they wished. She collected a total of ₩11.1 billion KRW (about $8.64 million USD) from seven victims, causing each of them damages of more than ₩500 million KRW (about $390,000 USD).

Using the same method, Lee Seul Bi received a total of ₩4.27 billion KRW (about $3.33 million USD) from 37 other victims. And while she had never actually made money from stock trading herself, she deceived 154 victims by pretending to know and teaching them how to profit from stock trading in a course. She collected a total of ₩500 million KRW (about $390,000 USD) in tuition fees, with each victim paying ₩3.30 million KRW (about $2,570 USD).

The first trial sentenced her to 8 years in prison, stating that she made herself look like she had exceptional investment techniques and expertise in stock trading and cheated 44 victims out of approximately ₩16.1 billion KRW (about $12.6 million USD) over four years through similar fraud techniques. In addition, the judge stated that she did not show sincere remorse for her wrongdoing, making a severe punishment inevitable.

She also received an eight-month prison sentence for another case where she received ₩600 million KRW (about $468,000 USD) in investment money from two people, promising to settle 50% of the investment as profit every three months. The second trial merged the two cases and found her guilty of all charges, sentencing her to 8 years in prison and ordering her to pay the requested compensation of ₩3.10 billion KRW (about $2.42 million USD).