Chinese Hackers Breach Interpark
Chinese Individuals Illegally Profiting from Scalping
Korea Internet & Security Agency Fails to Recognize Incident
It has been revealed that Chinese individuals are illegally profiting from scalping by purchasing tickets for hard-to-book concerts and sports events using Korean account information that was illegally distributed within China.
On the 10th, Lee Hun-ki, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee (Democratic Party of Korea), stated at the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) audit, "Chinese scalpers are illegally trading Korean verified accounts for 450 to 650 yuan (approximately 90,000 to 120,000 KRW) and accessing domestic ticket reservation sites from China to buy tickets."
These accounts were confirmed to have been used to book tickets for highly competitive events such as the recent singer 'Lim Young-woong Concert' and actor 'Byun Woo-seok Fan Meeting.' Although domestic reservation sites conduct separate payment processes for nationals and foreigners to prevent fraudulent bookings, the identity verification process did not function properly, allowing foreigners in China to register as if they were nationals.
Lee criticized, "The Korea Internet & Security Agency was not even aware of this situation until it requested related data in August," adding, "Although KISA distributed self-inspection checklists and guidelines to sites requiring identity verification, such as ticket reservation sites, only 21.8% of all institutions responded, rendering the effort ineffective." He further emphasized, "Interpark Ticket site responded that there were no issues in their self-inspection checklist, but that turned out to be false," and stressed, "A system is needed to enforce checklist inspections and compliance for over 23,000 institutions related to identity verification."
Meanwhile, reports of scalping have surged recently. According to audit data received by Kang Yoo-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee), from the Korea Creative Content Agency on the 6th, a total of 3,400 scalping reports were filed through the online scalping report board from January last year to July this year. There were 2,161 reports last year until December and 1,239 reports this year until July. As a result, voices calling to ban the act of buying and selling tickets at inflated prices are gaining momentum.
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