Crayon Pop's Ellin Responds To Romance Scam Accusation

Crayon Pop’s Ellin has spoken up about the accusation that she had committed a romance scam.

A romance scam is a form of fraud in which the perpetrator feigns romantic emotion towards a victim to gain their affection and uses the victim’s trust to commit fraud.

On November 1, an anonymous netizen (hereafter referred to as “A”) accused a female BJ (broadcast jockey), who was formerly an idol, of scamming him of 1 billion won (approximately $856,900) by pretending to be in a romantic relationship with him.

According to “A,” he was a viewer of the BJ’s broadcasts on AfreecaTV and eventually met her privately. They exchanged numbers and began to text each other on a daily basis. “A” stated that he and the BJ attended gatherings with other popular BJs, where she was physically affectionate with him. He sent 700 million won’s (approximately $599,800) worth of star balloons (virtual currency on the streaming platform) to her and spent 300 million won (approximately $257,100) more on gifts and favors like necklaces, shoes, bags, and moving expenses.

When “A” suggested that they meet more seriously, the BJ drew the line saying she only thought of him as a friend and never realized he felt that way about her. “A” stated that he was bewildered by her unexpected response and claimed that she had shared her personal phone number with him, told him her address, let him walk her home, sent a picture of her legs saying she had just woken up, discussed living together three years in the future, and introduced her mother to him.

“A” added, “I hope she won’t play with other people’s feelings after me, and I’m thinking of taking legal action against her.”

Many netizens speculated that the BJ in question was Ellin.

On November 2, regarding the accusation, Ellin posted on her AfreecaTV page saying that she would reveal her stance through a broadcast on November 3 after organizing her evidence and thoughts.

On the same day, Ellin made another official statement on her social media account.

Below is the full translation:

Hello. This is Crayon Pop member Ellin and AfreecaTV BJ hiellin.

First of all, I am writing to explain the conjectures and fabrications that arose from the accusation of a romance scam. Currently, my AfreecaTV channel has been moved to a private state, and my YouTube channel’s comment section has been deactivated.

This issue occurred due to falsely spread distorted facts, so there will be a great deal of misunderstanding and speculation. Therefore, I decided to release a statement about it. The statement will be completely factual and compact, and I will not avoid the incident by speaking about it vaguely.

It is true that “A” is a passionate fan who received exposure on my broadcast a few times due to his support with star balloons. However, just as the articles state, I have never forced or induced “A” to sponsor me with star balloons, and anyone who has watched my broadcasts will know this. I never induce my viewers to donate.

“A” set the amount of his sponsorship money higher than that of other fans and showed his influence during my live broadcasts. As a BJ, there’s an implicit rule to mention and communicate with those users, so I was able to talk separately with him.

In the process, “A” asked for my personal contact information through direct messages and chats, and I flatly rejected his offer, saying that a BJ personally contacting one individual fan would be negatively looked upon. But every time I did that, he sent me even more money during my broadcasts, and I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn’t respond to him in the way I used to before.

But regardless of what happened, the users began to collectively ask why I was ignoring the audience, so I had no choice but to give “A” my personal number and KakaoTalk [ID].

That’s when the issue arose.

As if he was entitled to it, “A” began demanding to contact me personally and to be informed of things like my scheduled activities that only my manager knows. Judging that the public opinion among users could worsen again [if I didn’t respond nicely], I was forced to treat him in a more friendly manner.

After some time passed, a few days ago, “A” talked about living together, and I made my point in this bizarre situation. And today this incident happened. Evidence to defend my statements above will soon be uploaded sequentially to my page, and I will also take all civil and criminal action I can take against the person spreading false rumors.

I apologize for causing concern to many fans.

From, hiellin.

Sources (1) (2) (3) (4)