“I think you were completely duped”...Aori reveals she was impersonated in a romance scam

[Financial News]  Model and YouTuber Aori (real name Kim Min-young) urged people to be cautious after revealing signs that her photos and other materials had been misused in a romance scam (fraud involving false promises of marriage or romance).
On the 12th, Aori posted several photos to her Instagram Story along with the message, “This is the story of a foreign man who fell victim to a romance scam.”
The photos Aori shared included a post by a foreign man claiming that he had been targeted by Aori in a romance scam.
The man publicly criticized Aori in posts on social media, including: “About the scam you pulled, did someone hand you money to pay your bills, the way you did to me?”; “You’ll learn the truth about who she is and what she did to me”; and “I’ll tell you myself about the scam she perpetrated against me.”  
Aori said, “He’s out there diligently commenting every single day. He’s popping up all over Threads and Instagram,” adding, “What’s really unfortunate is that he even got a photo of my passport. I think he was completely duped.” The man is also reported to have sent a message to Aori’s boyfriend.
Aori said, “Even though I told him it wasn’t me, he keeps believing it was me—that it was definitely me,” and added, “Sometimes people seem to misunderstand and think, ‘Aori must have scammed someone.’” She urged people to be careful, saying, “AI seems to have advanced so much. Let’s all watch out for romance scams.”
Aori rose to fame after appearing on various TV programs, including “Hearthstone Aori-ol-ol-ol,” a Hearthstone program on gaming channel OGN. She currently runs her own online shopping mall and continues her YouTube activities.
Romance scams are a type of fraud in which scammers build a relationship through social media or dating apps and then ask for money. Recently, they have reportedly also been using images fabricated with AI.
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter