Is Social Media Impersonation Illegal Medical Advertising Targeting Clinics?
Recently, there has been a rise in 'illegal medical advertising crimes impersonating clinics' targeting healthcare institutions. This method involves competitors or other companies creating accounts that pretend to be 'our clinic' and executing illegal medical advertising.
Reports have been made to health centers or relevant organizations about illegal medical advertising, preventing normal operations of clinics or jeopardizing the clinic's reputation, and such cases continue to occur.
Therefore, today we will look at the new 'illegal medical advertising crime impersonating clinics' victim cases and the ways to address them, and we will also check what can be resolved through WhiteMe services. 👇
Illegal impersonation advertisement attacks from competitors?
Recently, a medical clinic A that contacted WhiteMe expressed that they were struggling because of medical advertisements that were not executed.
Upon investigating the situation, it turned out that medical clinic A had also been a victim of the recent prevalent 'SNS illegal impersonation medical advertisements'.
A marketing company from another clinic impersonated 'Clinic A' to create a Facebook account and deliberately executed illegal medical advertisements.
As a result, clinic A suddenly received a warning notice from the health office and became aware of the incident.
Fortunately, the affected clinic A was not immediately punished and was able to respond, albeit belatedly, after receiving a preliminary warning from the health office.
The director mentioned that they have often witnessed clinics that had to pay fines due to similar damages in the surrounding area.
What are the methods of the new illegal impersonation advertising crime?
The core of the 'illegal impersonation medical advertising crime' targeting medical institutions is the violation of medical laws and the use of fake accounts to disseminate false information.
For example, a competitor creates a fake account that looks like a medical institution and posts advertisements containing exaggerated medical procedure effects or false information on social media platforms.
This can make it appear as if the medical institution is conducting illegal advertising, leading to investigations by relevant authorities or loss of customer trust.
Such advertisements can seriously damage the reputation of the medical institution and negatively affect the judgment of medical consumers, potentially leading to serious declines in sales, making it crucial to respond quickly.
What are the different tactics of competitors that we didn't see in the past?
In fact, there have been many reports of damage caused by illegal viral advertising in the past.
The difference is that in the past, malicious viral advertisements did not involve impersonating or intelligently conducting illegal advertising pretending to be our company.
They simply disguised themselves as customers to leave bad reviews for competing companies or spread rumors.
However, now, targeting overseas SNS platforms, which are not familiar with Korean laws or situations, they cleverly create impersonating accounts and conduct illegal advertising that causes secondary damage;
it is difficult to find countermeasures, and many people may be struggling to find similar cases.
So, what kind of penalties will there be for illegal impersonation account advertisements targeting competitors?
How does illegal medical advertising violate the law?
⚖️ Article 56 (Prohibition of Medical Advertising, etc.)
③ Medical corporations, medical institutions, or medical personnel may not make false or exaggerated medical advertisements.
Penalty: Up to 2 years of imprisonment or fines not exceeding 20 million won
⚖️ Article 3 of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising (Prohibition of Undue Labeling and Advertising Practices)
If the advertising content deceives consumers or includes unproven false information, it is considered an act of undue labeling or advertising.
⚖️ Article 314 of the Criminal Act (Interference with Business)
① A person who interferes with another’s business by methods described in Article 313 (such as spreading false information or other deception) or by force shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 5 years or fines not exceeding 15 million won.
Penalty: Up to 3 years of imprisonment or fines not exceeding 100 million won
⚖️ Article 44-7 of the Act on the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (Prohibition of Illegal Distribution of Information)
Acts that defame others or distribute illegal information are considered violations of the Information and Communications Network Act.
Penalty: Up to 7 years of imprisonment or fines not exceeding 50 million won
Thus, illegal impersonation viral advertising corresponds to various legal violations and can lead to serious legal responsibilities.
To prevent such problems in advance or to minimize damage, it is important to respond quickly with the help of experts.
From now on, let's learn how to deal with the 'impersonation illegal medical advertising crime' targeting medical institutions through the WhiteMe service.
Illegal Medical Advertising Impersonating Clinics, What is the Only Preventive Measure?
24-Hour Monitoring Service Using AI
WhiteMe operates a 24-hour AI crawling program for monitoring services to detect and respond to illegal impersonating advertising accounts that are currently prevalent.
This program can check in real-time whether new impersonating accounts or posts violating laws have occurred while monitoring posts, advertisements, and accounts related to input keywords.
This allows for the early detection of potentially problematic posts and enables the establishment of a corresponding response system.
2. There are Cases of Deleting Similar Impersonating Advertisements
If illegal advertisements or accounts have actually been created, WhiteMe has the ability to delete them quickly.
Unlike traditional post deletion companies, we provide a more systematic solution based on over 250,000 completed deletion data.
In particular, by using an AI and automated web program for post deletion for several years, we have become capable of quickly and accurately deleting complex post deletion tasks such as illegal impersonating advertisements for multiple customers.
3. Evidence Collection for Legal Complaints and Legal Support Linkage Service
Such illegal advertisements are not just accidental acts but are often carried out strategically and organizationally to damage the reputation of clinics.
As discussed regarding the penalties above, when such damage occurs, legal action has become a necessity rather than an option. WhiteMe offers a 'complaint evidence collection service' that specializes in gathering the evidence needed for cybercrime complaints.
The complaint evidence created by WhiteMe has legal effectiveness when negotiating cybercrime, and if necessary, through collaboration with partner law firms, helps to file complaints against the perpetrator groups related to illegal impersonating advertisements and facilitates legal responses more easily.
Monitoring, Deleting, and Legal Response All with a Single WhiteMe Service
WhiteMe is not just about deleting posts; it is a ‘comprehensive online reputation management service’ that supports all processes necessary for managing the reputation of medical institutions.
To solve issues related to illegal advertising, you can resolve everything from detection to deletion and legal responses all in one go with WhiteMe, without the need to use multiple services.
If you need a comprehensive and reliable online reputation management service, contact WhiteMe right now. 🙌
If you want to remove malicious viral ads from competitors and reputation damage caused by impersonation accounts, and delete ads impersonating overseas SNS platforms, click here! to proceed to a 1:1 consultation chat.
