No wonder there are no tickets Scalper Arrested
No wonder there are no tickets Scalper Arrested
Good morning.
It’s been quite a while since the sun came up,
but since I just woke up,
it’s morning for me right now.
What?? What did you say?
Anyway, I came across an interesting article in the newspaper,
so I’m posting about it right away.
I read articles from two different newspapers and put the information together.
Scalper A
From September 2018 to April 2026, for about 7 years and 7 months,
A bought tickets in bulk for popular Korean idols, famous foreign singers visiting Korea, and even sports leagues
using macros
and then resold them, reportedly making about 2.4 billion won.
24 billion won (approximately $1.75 million)!!
It was found that a total of 8,967 tickets had been purchased.
If we divide the criminal proceeds by the total number of tickets,
we can see that the average profit was approximately 267,648 won (about $195) per ticket.
Ugh… ah… huh…
ARRRrrrrrrRRRRR
He must be sentenced to prison.
So let’s take a look at what exactly he sold and how he made that much money.
The Korean artists included
idols such as BTS, Stray Kids, and SEVENTEEN,
as well as trot singers.
In the case of BTS, he resold tickets that originally cost 110,000 won for up to 3 million won.
That’s a whopping 2,627% increase, nearly 27 times the original price.
Why invest in stocks?
Why not just resell tickets?
But this is, after all, obstruction of business.
And the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has finally taken action.
New amendments were introduced through the National Assembly.
Don’t be tempted by this kind of money.
From now on, they’ll face serious consequences.
For Stray Kids, tickets originally priced at 165,000 won were sold for 2 million won.
About 1,121%, or 12 times the original price.
For SEVENTEEN, tickets originally priced at 110,000 won were sold for 1.8 million won.
About 1,534%, or 16 times the original price.
I don’t know much about Stray Kids or SEVENTEEN, but considering that SEVENTEEN’s scalped tickets were more expensive,
maybe SEVENTEEN has slightly more passionate fans.
Maybe they debuted earlier.
There was also the famous foreign singer who visited Korea,
Bruno Mars.
It all just sounds like ooh, ooh, ooh, hoo
Mm, too young, too dumb to realize ~ ♫
A 250,000-won ticket was sold for 1.2 million won.
These seem to be Korean fans.
There were also tickets for sports events such as Team K League vs. Tottenham in a friendly match,
musicals,
and popular trot singers, which he resold for profit.
Amendment of the Performance Act
The existing Performance Act was changed.
The Performance Act Before the Amendment
① Definition of Illegal Ticket Resale
Selling or arranging the sale of tickets at a price higher than the purchase price habitually or as a business without the consent of the seller or other relevant party.
And separately,
② Ban on the Use of Macros
It was prohibited to illegally resell tickets using a program (macro) that automatically and repeatedly inputs designated commands into an information and communications network.
– Established on March 21, 2023 –
In other words, the law prohibited reselling tickets as a business,
and also prohibited illegal resale using macros.
It clearly stated so.
And this time,
one thing that was missing
has been clearly defined: illegal ticket purchasing.
The definition of the newly added illegal ticket purchase
Illegal Ticket Purchase
Using an information and communications network to technically bypass security measures of an information system, among other methods,
bypassing or obstructing the fair purchasing process established by the initial seller,
and purchasing tickets from the initial seller for the purpose of resale.
You might think, “What’s the difference? Isn’t that the same thing?”
But by adding the act of bypassing the fair purchasing process established by the seller
and purchasing tickets for the purpose of resale,
you can think of it this way:
the previous law focused on how tickets were sold,
while this amendment also covers how the tickets were purchased.
One reason for defining this new offense was that
the previous law did not directly regulate purchasing tickets using family members’ names, friends’ names, and so on.
Go back and check it again. There’s nothing about that, right?
Exactly.
So this time,
the initial seller establishes – a fair purchasing process –
In other words, sellers can establish purchasing conditions such as a one-ticket-per-person limit, and notice of such conditions is expected to be necessary.
And then someone bypasses it.
Whether they use a family member’s account or their wife’s account,
(If it ends there, it is not expected to be illegal.)
Purchase for the purpose of resale
(This part has to be present.)
In other words, whether you buy your father’s ticket using your father’s account or whatever the case may be,
even if the purchasing process established by the initial seller was arguably bypassed,
if there was no intention to resell the ticket, it is not an illegal ticket purchase.
This was also added because
A, who was arrested this time,
not only used macros,
but was also found to have purchased large numbers of tickets using seven or more accounts.
However, A
② Ban on the Use of Macros
It was prohibited to illegally resell tickets using a program (macro) that automatically and repeatedly inputs designated commands into an information and communications network.
– Established on March 21, 2023 –
Since he began his activities in
September 2018, before this provision was established on March 21, 2023,
this provision cannot be retroactively applied to acts committed before March 21, 2023.
He’s a real veteran.
Quite the expert.
He even registered a business to make it look like a legitimate business.
Method of Sale
A really was quite the expert.
He also prepared various methods to evade the investigation,
such as changing the delivery address of tickets and having them delivered elsewhere.
He would also transfer the ID used to purchase the ticket.
Or he would meet buyers at the venue and hand over the wristbands.
He prepared all kinds of methods and means to continue violating the law.
The reason for using all these different methods of delivery
may have been partly to evade the investigation,
but it could also be seen as adapting to the ticket delivery methods used by ticket sellers to prevent ticket scalping,
which is why an additional charge of obstruction of business should be added.
A
Then, in March of this year,
after seeing scalpers being arrested in large numbers,
he closed his business and formatted his computer and mobile phone,
trying to get out of the business quickly.
However, the crime was uncovered through USB devices and other evidence found during the search and seizure.
At the time,
A had already purchased one apartment and two commercial properties
with money earned from his criminal activities.
The apartment has reportedly already been sold.
The police also explained that about 1.2 billion won in deposits, claims, and other assets had been identified.
A currently denies the charges, claiming that
he did not know ticket scalping was illegal, that he faithfully paid his taxes, and that he did not cause harm to anyone.
Then why did he close his business, try to destroy evidence,
and try to get out of it..?
He had been making more than 2 billion won from this business for seven years..
That’s about 300 million won a year, or 25 million won a month..
It doesn’t feel good.
For seven years,
while fans flew in on airplanes and came up by train
just to see a singer they loved,
he made money by taking advantage of those fans,
and spent his days living comfortably off it.
Yet none of those days can be included anywhere, and it is simply regrettable.
We’ll have to wait and see what punishment he receives.