Former AOA Member Mina Reveals She Was Scammed While Working Part-time In A "Chatroom" Where She Conversed With Lonely Men
According to a February 20 Channel A news segment, the Yongsan Police station in Seoul received a complaint from Mina and started an investigation. According to Mina, company 'A' offered her a work-from-home part-time job where she talked with lonely men in a chatroom, but the company used excuses to scam money from the former idol and threatened her.
In the interview, Mina explained, "I searched for work-from-home jobs and a 'chatting' part-time work popped up. So I thought it was just talking to people. If a guy opens a (chat) room, the girl would enter that room and just talk with him."
The man who would talk to the part-time worker would send the part-timer a gift in chatroom coins, and the part-timer can exchange those coins with the chatroom app company for real money.
Mina was able to earn 8 million KRW (~6,169 USD) worth of coins in one day and attempted to exchange the coins with the company. However, the company requested her to send in funds for the exchange, which should have been a major red flag.
Despite the warning signs, she sent the funds. Mina sent a total of 15 million KRW (~11,566 USD) over a span of six wire transfers. Mina explained, "They would say if I don't transfer the money, the coins I earned will all disappear, so I was anxious. I didn't think about the money I would lose that I transferred, but I was just worried about not getting the money I earned."
After she realized this was all a scam, it was already too late, and the company continued to threaten Mina, saying they would expose her for doing the "Chatroom" part-time. The company blackmailed Mina, saying they would delete the photos (of the conversation) and send back the 15 million KRW if she sent photos of herself and AOA members.
After this, she decided to go to the police for help.
Source: Allkpop