News Outlets Post About A “Jang Wonyoung Scam” — But It Makes Fans Furious Because It Was Not True

Recently, news outlets reported a scam involving the impersonation of IVE‘s Jang Wonyoung, but this raised concerns among fans because of the misinformation.

Jang Wonyoung | @for_everyoung10/Instagram

The news claimed that, according to online communities, people were receiving messages from people pretending to be Jang Wonyoung and demanding Google Play gift cards.

The news also posted a netizen’s screenshot of the scam message. The scammer claiming to be Jang Wonyoung said their phone was broken and claimed they were sending a text through a text messaging service named Munjara Nara. They also stated they were in a hurry before asking for Google Play gift cards.

A scammer pretending to be Jang Wonyoung sent the same message twice. | Sports Kyunghyang

Nuna, I’m IVE’s Jang Wonyoung. 
My phone screen is shattered, so I’m sending this text from Munja Nara. I’m in a hurry right now, so can you buy and send me ten ₩10.0 million KRW (about $7,520 USD) Google gift cards from a convenience store?

However, Jang Wonyoung fans were baffled when they saw this news, not because of the scam but because it was not true.

| @for_everyoung10/Instagram

A Twitter user posted a picture of a news article about the alleged scammer impersonating Jang Wonyoung and left a message, saying that their friend sent the message and that it wasn’t true.

Wait, I’m shocked. F*ck, this is my friend. How many times do I have to say this. is. not. voice. phishing.

— @kim_tofu_

This tweet was posted on FM Korea, a Korean online community, and other fans confirmed that the text message was just a joke between two friends who are fans of Jang Wonyoung.

Netizens revealed in the comments that the fan whose friend sent the text posted it as a meme to their fan account because it was normal for fans to post memes. However, some fans misunderstood the situation and the context and posted it to an online community, which then spread even though it wasn’t a real phishing scam.

A fan’s art of Jang Wonyoung | @Reflux000/Twitter

In fact, even the text message starts with “Nuna,” which is what younger brothers call older sisters or women. It would not have made sense for Jang Wonyoung to call anybody “nuna” when she is a woman.

| FM Korea

• “They were joking on their own, so how did this spread? Ah, they posted it in an online community… Did they not say it was a joke? Then the trash reporters would definitely believe it.”
• “Fans were posting memes on Jang Wonyoung’s fan account like they usually do, but some idiot Jang Wonyoung fans thought it was voice phishing and such and uploaded it to online communities. That’s how this happened.”
• “LOL it was a meme… It’s hard to follow along…”
• “I must be old. I don’t get what the meme is even trying to say. What about it is funny?”
• “Who jokes like that? In the end, they uploaded the picture and gave material to trash journalists.”
• “Nuna LOL”

Many netizens also criticized journalists for not doing their proper research before posting articles. They used the derogatory word “기레기 (giraegi),” which is a mix of the words “trash” and “journalist,” used to describe an unqualified journalist.

| FM Korea

• “Let me just say one thing: Giraegi.”
• “Reporters nowadays don’t do any research and just copy stuff from online communities lol. They need to check to see if it’s a joke first lol. There’s a reason they’re called giraegi.“
• “The giraegi is the problem…”
• “I guess giraegis just copy posts from online communities and get paid. So jealousㅠㅠ”
• “The reason there’s no difference between YouTubers and reporters.”
• “Do reporters need to get a certificate or something?”
• “I’m going to remember the reporter’s name and ignore their reports in the future lol”