“Kim Yeon-kyung disappeared after receiving 360,000 won in tickets for her retirement game”… Punishment is mild despite rampant ticket scalping and fraud

Reduce damaging posts online

‘Volleyball Empress’ abuse of fan sentiment in the last game
Professional baseball is also rife with hundreds of thousands of won tickets.

By 2024, the number of reports of ticket scalpers has increased tenfold in four years.
Even if caught on the spot, the fine is only 200,000 won.
Proving the use of macros is not easy
“The system needs to be improved, including raising the level of punishment.”

Lee, a volleyball fan in his 20s, tried to reserve a ticket to see volleyball player Kim Yeon-kyung's retirement game on the 8th, but failed. He wanted to get tickets even if he had to pay extra, so he posted “I’m looking for tickets” on social networking service (SNS) X (formerly Twitter). Mr. Lee soon received a call saying he would sell the ticket, and although the price was more than double the regular price, he decided to buy it. Mr. Lee sent money to the seller's account, but never received the ticket. By the time he raised the issue, the seller had already gone into hiding. Seongdong Police Station in Seoul began an investigation after receiving a ticket fraud complaint filed by Mr. Lee.
 
As the domestic professional baseball season opens and festivals and concerts heralding spring continue, ticket scams are rampant. The method of ticket scalping fraud, which is usually carried out through transactions between individuals, is simple, but the number of damage cases continues to increase every year. Experts suggest that institutional improvements are needed, such as increasing the level of punishment for ticket scalping fraud and activating reporting centers.

On this day, in online communities, it was easy to find posts complaining about damage from ticket fraud along with inquiries asking for tickets to Kim Yeon-kyung's retirement game. Mr. A, who said his cousin was a victim of a ticket scam, expressed his resentment, saying, “I deposited 360,000 won to purchase tickets for the 5th game at Joonggonara, but was blocked by the scammer.” He added, “The scammer is changing his ID and repeatedly posting the same posts.”
 
Ticket scalping is also a chronic problem in professional baseball, which recently opened and set a record of over 1 million spectators with the fewest games ever (60 games).

Last year, scalped tickets for the Korean Series were well over 10 times the regular price, and weekend ticket scalpers worth hundreds of thousands of won are continuing this season as well. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is also working with the 10 clubs in the league to prepare measures to strengthen response to minimize damage from ticket scalping.

Ticket scalping fraud in professional sports is increasing every year. According to the Ticket Scam Reporting Center operated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of reports, which was only 6,237 in 2020, jumped more than eight times to 51,405 as of August last year. The total number of reports last year is estimated to exceed 60,000 for the first time in history.

Crimes are mainly committed online by collecting ticket money from buyers and then disappearing, or sending fake tickets. There are also cases where a large number of tickets are purchased using a so-called ‘macro (automatic repeat entry program)’ and then sold through scalping to make a large profit. Eunhee Lee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, explained, “As ticket purchases and transactions are all done online, the damage to consumers has increased significantly compared to before,” adding, “Criminals are making money more easily.”
 
Measures to eradicate ticket scalping are insufficient. Above all, it is pointed out that the severity of punishment under the current law is weak.

Under the Misdemeanor Punishment Act, on-site ticket scalping is only subject to a fine of less than 200,000 won, which is far less than the profits from scalping. Regarding the punishment of online scalpers, since last year those who use macros can be subject to up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won, but investigative agencies are having difficulty proving that macros were used.

Attorney Shin Yong-hoon (Daeryun Law Firm) said, “There is great concern that in the case of some scalpers, the level of punishment is lower than the profits,” and emphasized, “There must be a means to deprive them of profits through additional regulations, such as raising the level of punishment compared to now or imposing fines over a certain portion of the profits.” Professor Lee Eun-hee said, “This is not a problem that can be solved simply by increasing the number of public officials who monitor it,” and advised, “We need to think about ways to activate a reporting center that collects ticket trading activities and link it with the police.”

Reporters Jang Han-seo and Byun Se-hyeon

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"Kim Yeon-kyung disappeared after receiving 360,000 won in tickets for her retirement game"... Punishment is mild despite rampant ticket scalping and fraud (Shortcut)