As per a report by Biz Hankook on March 22 KST, Jungkook from BTS recently fell victim to identity theft. During his mandatory military service, an unknown individual tried to unlawfully take around 8.44 billion KRW worth of HYBE stocks that belonged to Jungkook without his authorization.

The incident happened on January 6, 2024, shortly after Jungkook started his military service. The perpetrator established three securities accounts using Jungkook's name and used them to transfer 33,500 HYBE Labels shares without Jungkook's awareness. Out of these shares, 33,000 (equivalent to approximately 8.3 billion KRW based on the closing price on January 5, 2024) were moved to a new account in Jungkook's name, while 500 shares (around 126 million KRW) were sold and passed on to a third party.

Jungkook took legal action against the third party who bought the 500 shares in March 2024. In February 2025, the Seoul Western District Court ruled in favor of Jungkook, stating that since he was a victim of identity theft, there was no valid stock transfer agreement. Initially, the third party challenged the court's decision but withdrew the appeal by March 2025.

The perpetrator behind the identity theft, who managed to snatch and transfer Jungkook's stocks, remains unidentified. There are suspicions that someone close to Jungkook might have been involved as the individual had access to his accounts, ID, bank details, and other financial information.

Following the incident, Big Hit Music acted promptly to mitigate the losses suffered by Jungkook. They froze and returned the idol's accounts to their original state, preventing any actual financial harm.