Woman sends W35m to impersonator claiming to be actor Lee Dong-wook

A scammer impersonating actor Lee Dong-wook has defrauded a woman of tens of millions of won in a romance scam.

According to SBS's "News Hunters," a woman in her 30s who works as a background actor and has long been a fan of Lee exchanged messages with the impersonator over a mobile messenger for about eight months beginning earlier this year, coming to believe she was in a romantic relationship before transferring a large sum of money.

The woman, identified only as A, sent approximately 35 million won ($25,600) in total.

"It was like Lee Dong-wook was confessing his feelings to me," A said. "We even talked about visiting my parents together for a formal meeting. It just naturally developed into a romantic relationship."

She added: "We said 'I love you, honey' — I called him oppa and he called me 'jagi.' We had conversations like that for nearly a year. It seemed like he had chosen me as his partner."

The impersonator exploited the fact that A worked as a background actor, offering her advice on life in the entertainment industry while continuously expressing affection.

The scammer then claimed to have sent A a parcel containing gifts worth around 700 million won from an overseas filming location, saying it had been held up at customs, and began demanding money for document processing fees to clear the package.

Throughout the process, A never suspected she was dealing with an impersonator, even though the account holder names on the bank accounts the scammer provided were all different each time.

"I even broke into my fixed savings account and added my own living expenses to send him money," A said. "He told me his celebrity identity had to stay hidden, so I sent money to a different account each time — but I never got any of it back."

Attorney Lee Kyung-min, who appeared on the program, said the victim appeared to have had no suspicion at all that she was being scammed. "Approaching someone through social media as if you're in a romantic relationship and then asking for money is a textbook romance scam," he said.

Lee Dong-wook's agency, Kingkong by Starship, posted a notice on its official social media accounts saying it had received reports of individuals impersonating its artists through personal messenger and social media accounts. "Our artists do not request money, valuables or personal information through personal messenger or social media accounts," the agency said.

The agency also warned that its artists never approach fans individually to solicit money under the pretext of hosting VIP fan meetings. "We ask that you take extra care to avoid falling victim to such schemes or being misled," it said.