An 80,000 won ticket resold for 2.4 million won... Arrest of illegal ticket dealers
12 people sent without detention for illegally selling professional baseball, concert, and fan signing event tickets
Quick Look
- The Cyber Investigation Department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it had sent 12 people, including Mr.
- A, a man in his 30s, without detention on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act, who purchased 3,069 tickets for professional baseball, concerts, and fan signing events using a macro program and then resold them at 10 to 30 times the regular price.
- An application was made for confiscation and collection preservation before indictment for the 416.57 million won in criminal proceeds.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Illegal ticket sales using macro programs are occurring repeatedly in the sports game and performance ticket market, and the police are conducting a related investigation.
A group of people who committed ticket fraud by buying a large number of tickets to popular actors' fan signing events and reselling them at about 30 times the price were caught by the police.
The Cyber Investigation Department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 6th that it had sent 12 people, including Mr. A, a man in his 30s, without detention to the Public Prosecution Office last month on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act, the National Sports Promotion Act, and the Performance Act and obstruction of business.
They are suspected of interfering with the work of ticket reservation companies by purchasing a total of 3,069 sports game, performance tickets, and fan signing event tickets using the macro program from December 2023 to August of this year, and then reselling them at high prices.
Macro programs are illegal automation programs that have functions such as automatically selecting seats, repeating clicks, or detecting canceled tickets.
By ticket, professional baseball tickets were the most with 1,496 tickets, followed by idol concert tickets with 1,298 tickets, musical tickets with 170 tickets, fan signing event tickets with 59 tickets, and other sports game tickets with 46 tickets.
They were found to have resold the purchased tickets at 10 to 30 times the regular price on an online trading platform.
It was confirmed that a ticket to a popular actor's fan signing event was purchased for 79,000 won and sold for 2.4 million won.
The police reported that these 12 people engaged in collusion, such as creating a group chat room, sharing crime methods and profits, and coordinating appropriate sales prices.
The police applied for confiscation and collection of 416.57 million won of their criminal proceeds before indictment.
In addition to Mr. A's group, the police are also investigating the 'illegal purchase and sale of professional baseball post-season tickets' requested by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation.
The police said, “We plan to conduct a strict investigation in close cooperation with relevant agencies in the future.”
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Police will continue to investigate cases of illegal purchase and sale of professional baseball postseason tickets.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What is the name of the specific ticket reservation company?
- What is the specific division of roles among the 12 major participants?
- What will be the result of the application for confiscation and collection preservation?
