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YouTuber Horse King says he was victim of 'body cam phishing' scam

Published: 09 May. 2025, 13:31 Updated: 09 May. 2025, 14:57

YouTuber Horse King [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A fitness YouTuber who goes by the name Horse King and has 1.65 million subscribers said he is a victim of "body cam phishing" — a type of sextortion involving illicit filming and blackmail.

"Eight years ago, when I was active as a BJ on AfreecaTV, I was approached with an underwear modeling offer and ended up in a video call, during which I fell victim to body cam phishing," Horse King, whose real name is Yoo Tae-yang, said during a YouTube livestream on Wednesday.

"BJ" is a Korean term for "streamer."

Horse King went on to say that a woman who had been communicating with him at the time asked him to undress under the pretense of checking the fit, adding that he "felt flattered when she said I had a good body, so I took off all my clothes and even engaged in lewd acts."

Horse King later discovered that the person he had spoken with was not a woman but a man, who then extorted him for money. He also said that part of the video was recently leaked online. The YouTuber reported the person responsible for distributing the footage to the cybercrime unit, but authorities are struggling to apprehend the suspect due to difficulties in confirming their identity.

During the same broadcast, Horse King shared a phone call he had with his mother.

"It's time to stop hiding and go public,” he said. “I kept quiet for years because I was afraid others might be affected." His mother responded, "You must have suffered a lot," and comforted him by saying, "Let's consider this the end of it."

According to the National Police Agency, the number of reported body cam phishing cases has continued to rise each year. There were 1,824 cases in 2019, 2,583 in 2020, 3,026 in 2021, 4,313 in 2022 and 3,545 in 2023.

However, due to the nature of phishing crimes, many victims avoid calling the police, suggesting the actual number may be much higher. The arrest rate for such crimes was 26.21 percent in 2019, 20.09 percent in 2020, 23.73 percent in 2021, 10.9 percent in 2022 and only 8.6 percent in 2023, according to the police.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]