Former K-Pop Idol Reveals 2 Methods Used by Sasaeng Fans to Obtain Their Phone Numbers

Kapanlagi.com - The issue of sasaeng (stalker "fans") has been a nightmare for idols for a long time. Even Soobin, former member of the girl group Blady, also known as Tina, who left the K-Pop industry since 2017, is still a victim of sasaeng to this day.

This California-born former idol revealed that just in January of this year alone, her social media and email accounts were hacked by sasaeng fans twice. As a former idol, this is certainly not the first time she has been hacked.

Unfortunately, many idols experience the same fate. Often, idols are flooded with phone calls and messages from sasaeng fans during live broadcasts. All of these incidents prompted Soobin to answer fans' curiosity through her personal YouTube channel, how these obsessive sasaeng fans can obtain personal information of K-Pop idols?

"Why are you so interested in my private life?" Soobin said as quoted from Koreaboo.

1. Paying Workers in Telephone Companies

credit: youtube.com/Soobeanie_

Actually, Soobin doesn't want to release specific details that can be followed by other sasaengs, but he mentioned two methods commonly used by obsessive sasaengs. The first method involves telephone companies.

In South Korea, the salary of customer service staff in telephone companies is relatively low. As a result, they often recruit young people looking for simple jobs.

Soobin then explained that the security and privacy in these companies are relatively poor. With easily obtainable information such as name and date of birth, customer service workers can quickly find anyone's phone number. So, sasaengs contact young people working in these companies and pay them to find the desired K-Pop idol's phone number.

2. Frequently Changing Phone Numbers

Soobin also told viewers that many K-Pop idols change their phone numbers regularly to avoid phone calls and chats from sasaeng fans. However, because phone numbers in South Korea need to be registered with an official name, it is very easy for obsessive sasaeng fans to find them again and again.

According to Soobin, there is a way for idols to avoid this, which is by asking their family or acquaintances to register their phone numbers.

3. Guessing Contest with Prizes

credit: youtube.com/Soobeanie_

Next, Soobin discusses the issue of KakaoTalk, the most popular messaging app in South Korea. Many Koreans link their phone numbers to KakaoTalk, allowing sasaeng fans to find K-Pop idol messenger IDs after obtaining their phone numbers.

However, there are also idols whose KakaoTalk IDs are still known and hacked even though they do not link this app to their phone numbers. This happens because many new idols who are inexperienced with stalkers choose easy-to-guess KakaoTalk IDs.

4. Used to Stalk K-Pop Idols

Soobin said that the security level of this application is relatively low, so fans can continue to guess the ID (such as a combination of the idol's name and birthday) until they find the desired account. This is not only done by fans who want to get closer to their idols, sometimes there are individuals who use this information to blackmail K-Pop idols.

In short, Soobin asks sasaeng fans to "know their limits" because it is useless to be obsessed with other people's private lives. This annoying sasaeng behavior should not be imitated by KLovers!

(kor/rsp)