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Virtual Youth ‘Park Do-young’ Raises Awareness on Cyber Gambling Prevention

The joint campaign between the National Police Agency and financial company Toss to prevent cyber gambling among youths, ‘Park Do-young, 16 years old’, has gained significant attention.

On the campaign’s Instagram account, Park Do-young (16, male) initially showcases a lavish lifestyle, boasting about buying expensive meals for his friend and luxury goods for his girlfriend. Photos of him dining at fancy restaurants and flaunting luxury shoes are also shared.

However, his posts soon take a drastic turn. Text messages such as “Aren’t you going to pay me back?” and “Borrow money and go into hiding, Park Do-young,” start pouring in, and a post hinting at an extreme choice, such as “I want to quit everything now,” is shared on social media.

It is revealed that Park Do-young is a virtual youth created by photoshopping the faces of students who have suffered damage from cyber gambling with their cooperation. The National Police Agency operated this account as part of the ‘Youth Cyber Gambling Prevention and Eradication Campaign’ in collaboration with mobile financial service Toss.

A preventive video was produced and distributed to raise awareness of the seriousness of cyber gambling through the fictional character ‘Park Do-young, 16 years old’. To add realism, Park’s Instagram account was also opened, showcasing the chronological sequence of everyday life gradually collapsing due to cyber gambling.

The National Police Agency also planned a service to report suspicious gambling accounts in cooperation with Toss. Toss provides a service that displays a warning message when sending money to an account suspected of being used for illegal gambling and informs connected family members of the type of accident and the date of occurrence when conducting a transaction or transfer suspected of being ‘dangerous’. A system to report via the web any Toss Bank account being used on an illegal gambling site was also created.