Busan police have broken up a fake review scheme that used stolen accounts and customers' own discarded receipts to post fraudulent positive reviews on Naver, manipulating search visibility for hundreds of businesses. The operation is accused of posting fake reviews 28,886 times.
The method was organized at scale. The operators bought roughly 37,000 leaked accounts through Telegram, filtered for ones usable with automation macros, and used them to post reviews written as if the poster had actually visited. Receipts customers left behind at restaurants, or records of paid reservations, were used as fabricated proof of a visit.
Investigators found a detailed price list behind the scheme: real-name accounts went for about KRW 600, non-real-name accounts for KRW 700–800, and reviews bundled with a room reservation sold for KRW 1,000–5,000. Through this system, the operation generated roughly KRW 1.9 billion from more than 700 advertiser clients.
The operation's head, a man in his 30s, was referred to prosecutors in custody on charges including violation of the Information and Communications Network Act; 23 others, including employees and advertisers, were referred without detention. Police reported the stolen account information to Naver for account protection measures and secured a pre-indictment asset preservation order on KRW 1.785 billion. Police have also signaled further investigation into the advertisers who commissioned the manipulated reviews.
This case shows how easily "review marketing" can slide from a gray area into outright crime. Artificially inflating review counts and ratings to boost search visibility is still common in parts of the industry, but large-scale manipulation using stolen accounts and automation is a clear crime — and, as this case shows, the advertisers who commission it can be investigated too. Even when review management is outsourced to an agency, marketers need to confirm the underlying method is based on real customer experience to avoid this exposure.
As platform detection improves and law enforcement pursues asset forfeiture, the expected payoff from short-term manipulation keeps shrinking. The sustainable path is the direct one: encouraging genuine reviews from actual visitors, improving service quality, and responding seriously to customer complaints — fundamentals that protect both search visibility and trust over the long run.
If you need a review and reputation strategy built on legitimate, sustainable practices, Best Partner's services can help, or contact us directly.
It posted fraudulent positive reviews on Naver 28,886 times using roughly 37,000 stolen accounts, using customers' discarded receipts as fake proof of a visit, generating about KRW 1.9 billion from over 700 advertisers.
Yes. Alongside the operator, who was referred to prosecutors in custody, 23 people including employees and advertisers were referred without detention, and police have flagged further investigation of advertisers.
Police notified Naver of the stolen accounts for protective measures and secured a pre-indictment asset preservation order on KRW 1.785 billion.
Confirm that any outsourced review management is based on genuine customer experience — large-scale fake review manipulation is a criminal offense, and the sustainable alternative is earning real reviews through service quality and responsive customer care.
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