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SCMP’s Asia desk

When Brazilian K-pop fan Tami spotted a social media post last month selling a rare Polaroid photo signed by ZeroBaseOne member Zhang Hao, she jumped at the opportunity.
The seller identified himself as a South Korean named Park Chae-ah, according to the Chosun Daily newspaper. She transferred the money. Then Park switched his account to private and vanished.
Tami* is far from alone.
Across Brazil, home to one of Latin America’s most passionate Korean pop culture communities, scammers have found a lucrative target in the devoted followers of South Korea’s global cultural hallyu – or “Korean wave” – exports.

The fraud has grown so brazen it has now triggered the first formal law enforcement partnership between South Korea and Brazil.
On Monday, Korea National Police Acting Commissioner General Yoo Jae-seong and Brazil’s Federal Police Director General Andrei Passos Rodrigues signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at expunging what officials are calling “Korea wave scams”, the Korea Herald reported.
“Brazil is one of the largest consumers of Korean cultural content in Latin America,” Yoo told the newspaper. “Making preventive action essential to protect both Korean nationals and local fans.”
Selling the fantasy
The scams take several forms. At the more common end, swindlers pose as South Korean sellers offering hard-to-find K-pop merchandise – signed albums, limited-edition photo cards, concert tickets – then disappear after payment clears.
Others offer to act as middlemen for international buyers, pocketing the money before cutting off contact.
But some scams carry darker consequences still. Last December, Brazilian media flagged a website advertising a “Hallyu tour” in Sao Paulo, promoted with the tagline: “Feel the magic of K-dramas again with your oppa!” – the Korean term of endearment for a boyfriend.
The site offered paid packages in which women were paired with South Korean men for a curated romantic experience: cafe tours through the Koreatown district of Bom Retiro, Korean barbecue dinners where the oppa grilled meat “like in the dramas” and walks through Ibirapuera Park with scripted K-drama dialogue on request.

One package, listed as the “K-Experiencia Intima”, promised a private meeting “in a motel or at your residence”, with a sensual massage included.
A man prominently featured on the platform, “Oppa Rick”, was later identified as Rikito Morikawa, a 23-year-old Japanese national who reportedly flew back to Japan after being exposed.
The Korean consulate general in Sao Paulo later issued a public warning, confirming that some victims had been sexually exploited.
“We are doing our utmost not only to protect Korean nationals in Brazil but also to safeguard the rights of anyone who could be harmed by those who unlawfully exploit Korea’s image or culture,” Kim In-ho, the consulate’s police affairs officer, told The Korea Herald.
“We will respond firmly to any acts that undermine the cultural values of Korea.”
A lucrative market
The scale of Brazil’s K-pop devotion helps explain why fraudsters have zeroed in on the country.
The Korean Cultural Centre in Sao Paulo counted more than 300,000 hallyu fans nationwide as of 2019, a figure that it says has since surged.
In 2023 alone, 140,000 people visited the centre, more than triple the 45,000 who came through the year before.
*Full name withheld in original reporting.


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Scams and swindles

BTS fans who flew from Brazil to see the K-pop super act’s members Jungkook and Jimin released from military service pose with flags in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on June 11 last year. Photo: AFP

Brazilian K-pop fans scream during the Sao Paulo stop of a promotional K-culture world tour in 2011. Photo: AFP

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NewJeans pose for a photo at Seoul Fashion Week in 2023. Photo: Getty Images

Mixed-sex K-pop group Allday Project launched its debut single in June. Photo: Instagram/theblacklabel

Why South Korea’s Hallyu heroes find taxes so … taxing

South Korean actor Kim Seon-ho stars in the Netflix series “Can This Love Be Translated?”. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

Singer-actor Cha Eun-woo faces a US$13.8 million tax assessment by South Korean authorities. Photo: Handout

South Korean actress Kim Ah-joong in a still from the science fiction thriller “Grid”. Photo: Disney+

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The Seoul shuffle: why foreigners are loving and leaving South Korea

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People walk across a road in Seoul in April. South Korea’s working-age population is forecast to halve by 2070. Photo: AFP

Seasonal migrant workers harvest onions at a farm in Changnyeong, South Korea, last year. Photo: Yonhap/EPA-EFE

In Daerim-dong, Chinese migrants have built a thriving community in a historic neighbourhood that feels like an extension of home. Photo: Erika Na

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South Korea and Brazil are taking action to protect fans from fraudsters cashing in with phantom merchandise and exploitative ‘oppa’ tours


South Korea and Brazil are taking action to protect fans from fraudsters cashing in with phantom merchandise and exploitative ‘oppa’ tours.


‘K-wave’ scams exploiting Brazil’s superfans trigger police pact

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}South Korea and Brazil are taking action to protect fans from fraudsters cashing in with phantom merchandise and exploitative ‘oppa’ tours

South Korea and Brazil are taking action to protect fans from fraudsters cashing in with phantom merchandise and exploitative ‘oppa’ tours