A ticket scalping ring in Korea made 7.1 billion won using illegal macros and sophisticated methods, leading to multiple arrests.
May/5/2026 18:07
The method of an organized scalper that gained a profit of 7.1 billion won (about 700 million yen) through the dark trade of concert tickets has been revealed. On May 4, broadcast on MBC every1 'Hidden Eye', the reality of an organization that resold tickets at high prices through illegal macros (automatic purchase programs) and clever methods was spotlighted. 'Hidden Eye' revealed the scene where the central figure of illegal ticket sales was arrested. The police apprehended 16 people, including the central figure. The 16 arrested members of the organization were charged with business obstruction and violations of the performance law. Considering the scale of the crime, it is expected that the three central figures will receive prison sentences of 2 to 4 years, and one developer who fled overseas is wanted internationally and is being pursued. They went beyond simply buying up and reselling tickets, establishing a thorough division of labor system. From a development team that developed illegal macro programs to sales and intermediate/final distribution roles, they operated systematically. Mr. Kwon Il-Young stated, 'The scale is more shocking than imagined,' and reported that criminals secured over 30,000 tickets for famous idol concerts from October 2022 to January this year. The secured tickets were generally sold at 3 to 4 times the original price, and in the case of popular performances, prices skyrocketed to dozens of times. In fact, tickets for G-DRAGON and BLACKPINK, originally priced at 200,000 won (about 20,000 yen), were sold for several million won (hundreds of thousands of yen), and SEVENTEEN's concert tickets were traded for an astonishing 5 million won (about 500,000 yen), which is 25 times the original price. They also funneled some tickets to foreign scalpers for mass resale, earning a total profit of 7.1 billion won. Their methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated. There is an identity verification process to check if the ticket purchaser and owner are the same person, but they utilized their experience working in IT companies to create a fake ID app themselves. They operated a forgery program that could not be detected even by the naked eye. As security systems were strengthened, they developed more advanced macros using AI to respond. They also created group chats with over 1,000 members to share how to use macros and cleverly evade police crackdowns while sharing real-time updates on investigation situations.
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