Illegal loan sharks demand borrowers' contact lists, harass acquaintances with spam

[Anchor]

These days, illegal loan sharks are reportedly demanding the entire contact list from borrowers' mobile phones as collateral when lending money.

They pressure the borrowers to repay their debts by sending videos to the people saved in their contact lists, asking them to pay up.

Acquaintances are suffering from various spam messages due to the leaked phone numbers.

The issue of illegal debt collection is becoming more malicious with mobile technology, and reporter Lee Won-hee brings us the story.

[Report]

Mr. A, a man in his twenties who completed his military service a few months ago, was shocked to receive a text message from an unknown number recently.

The message stated that an officer he had served with in the same unit was using loan sharks and not repaying the money.

[Mr. A/voice altered: "I had a few conversations during my military service, but I wasn't really close with that sergeant...."]

The message also included a request to check a certain SNS account, and when he accessed it, he found a video of that officer pleading for money to be repaid.

[The officer/voice altered: "I borrowed money by handing over the personal information of people in my contact list as collateral. If you receive a call because of me, I don't have the means to repay, so please help me out."]

Concerned, Mr. A contacted the officer and heard something surprising.

[Mr. A/voice altered: "He said he just handed over all the contact information from his mobile phone when he borrowed from loan sharks."]

After this incident, Mr. A was bombarded with various spam messages from places like prostitution establishments.

[Mr. A/voice altered: "I wondered whether my personal information had already been sold overseas."]

Mr. A is not alone; several other officers who worked with the officer who borrowed from loan sharks also faced similar issues.

[Mr. B/voice altered: "When I contacted people from the unit, they all said they received messages, too. Even the brigade commander got a message. So the unit was in chaos."]

Illegal debt collection is being indiscriminately carried out not only against debtors but also against their acquaintances.

This is KBS News, Lee Won-hee.