Personal information on "800 Chat Room"...'Illegal Collection' Like a Criminal Organization

[Anchor]
YTN continues to report on the vicious illegal collection of ordinary people that brings them to the brink.

Today, we create an online group chat room like a criminal organization, share information on victims, and accuse them of illegal collection behavior that targets 'small-rate borrowers'.

A reporter from the department head reports.

[Reporter]
It is a Telegram chat room with more than 800 participants.

Someone's name, birth year, residential area, and phone number come up in a hurry with the word asking for an inquiry.

However, there is a real-time reply in less than a minute.

This is the 'debtor information room' of illegal lenders secured by YTN.

[Former loan shark: If you borrow money from one place, doesn't that person's information go to one person? I'm selling that information to other people, selling it, selling it, selling it....]

It has been using it for illegal collection by indiscriminately distributing sensitive personal information, such as whether it has lent money or failed to pay it back.

These "debtor information rooms" were confirmed by reporters alone, with hundreds of participants, and were operated after strict certification.

In particular, sensitive photos of debtors who failed to pay off their debts were also shared here and there.

[Former loan shark: I get your ID photo. While watching that, we were laughing out loud....]

Private lenders shared the information like this and made "small pay lenders" their main targets.

An office worker A, whom the reporters met, also began his nightmare because of only 200,000 won.

I handed over my personal information to an intermediary to borrow money, and it spread in an instant and flooded with calls and messages from loan sharks.

[Illegal loan victim: I've been getting calls from so many people. [They come to lend money in many ways, such as phone calls, KakaoTalk messages, and text messages]

Since then, the money borrowed from a private lender has grown to tens of millions of won at thousands of percent annual interest rates, followed by indiscriminate threats against Mr. A's family, his boss, and colleagues.

[Illegal loan victim: I'd rather die from the debtor's point of view, such as being a person who can't borrow and pay back the settlement money after taking a picture of students' legs (on the subway).]

It calmed down for a while when I reported it to the police, but the debt demand began again a month or two later, and Mr. A's personal information continued to circulate constantly, attracting other loan sharks.

[Illegal loan victim: He can't come out because of his confidence that he can give him this money in a week. You can think that the moment you're overdue for a day, you'll probably lose all the weight.]

Financial authorities have asked for an investigation into the leakage of debtor information in illegal chat rooms, but illegal loan sharks are not concerned.

I'm the manager of YTN.

a photographer