Online scalpers who exploited direct links and macro programs to buy up large quantities of tickets for popular concerts and sports games, then resold them at huge markups, were rounded up by police.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's Cybercrime Investigation Unit said on the 29th it booked five online scalpers without detention on suspicion of obstruction of business, among other charges. Police applied for pre-indictment preservation of confiscation on revenue of about 870 million won they allegedly obtained through the crimes and notified the relevant agencies of related tax records.
According to police, A, in their 30s, along with B, in their 30s, who handled ticket reservations, and C, a woman in her 40s who managed the ledger, divided roles and repeatedly bought season tickets and early reservation rights for sports games from July 2022 to Nov. of this year using four accounts under the names of family and acquaintances.
They are accused of reselling about 18,300 tickets over more than 7,400 transactions to pocket around 730 million won in illicit gains. In particular, they bought baseball season tickets for 2,000 won and sold them for up to 100,000 won, reaping exorbitant profits, and they recorded games, seats, and revenue in a ledger, effectively operating as a business.
Another scalper, D, in their 20s, used a direct link program that enables "online cutting in line" by bypassing the virtual queue to secure more than 3,360 tickets and took in about 130 million won in gains.
E, in their 20s, who developed a macro program, repeatedly detected canceled tickets and processed payments, selling a popular idol's 162,000-won concert tickets for as much as 850,000 won.
Police said that although their booking methods differed—season tickets, direct links, macros—they showed the same operating structure: preempting tickets with multiple accounts, reselling them through secondhand platforms, and managing revenue with ledgers.
A police official said, "Online scalping has expanded from mere individual misconduct into a structural crime based on technology," and noted, "We have suggested to the relevant ministries the need to enhance functions that detect abnormal usage at the booking stage and to establish management standards for accounts that make repeated reservations."
In addition, the police plan to work with relevant ministries to devise ways to systematically manage repeated selling patterns on secondhand platforms.