Former K-pop idol Mina from lady group AOA has claimed she was scammed while working in a chatroom for lonely men.
In an interview with South Korea media outlet Channel A News on Monday, the 29-year-old singer-actress stated she misplaced 15 million Korean received (RM51,000) after she began working on Feb 6 at what was promised to be a well-paying job.
“I searched for work-from-home jobs and a part-time ‘chatting’ job popped up. So I thought it was just talking to people. If a guy opens a chatroom, the girl would enter that room and just talk with him,” she stated in the interview.
She obtained chatroom cash in return for chats and reportedly made eight million Korean received value of cash in a day.
When she tried to trade the cash with the corporate, nonetheless, it requested that she despatched in funds to facilitate the trade.
Worried that she would lose her cash if she didn’t comply, Mina claimed she despatched a complete of 15 million Korean received over six wire transfers.
When she realised it was a rip-off, the corporate then blackmailed her with a photograph of her legs that she had despatched in a chat and likewise threatened to reveal her chats.
After the corporate found she was a former K-pop idol, it additionally requested pictures of her and her former bandmates, who have been standard in 2014 and 2015.
Upon making a police report, she learnt there are reportedly different victims of the identical rip-off. She additionally stated she was going public to assist forestall others from falling for the ruse.
Mina, who made her debut in eight-member group AOA in 2012, alleged in 2020 that her bandmate Jimin had bullied her for a decade, which led to Mina leaving the group in 2019 and Jimin exiting in 2020. Others have left AOA over time and there are solely two members, Hyejeong and Chanmi, left. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
