"Trying to See Son Heungmin and Lamine Yamal"... Sports Ticket Scam Alert

From Ticket 'Ghosting' to Demands for Additional Payments
"Avoid Advance Payments in Open Chat Rooms"

Hwang, a 22-year-old university student, recently fell victim to a scam while trying to purchase tickets for a friendly match in Korea featuring the prestigious European football club FC Barcelona. After seeing a post on a secondhand trading platform that promised a "100% refund in case of ID transfer failure," Hwang contacted the seller and was invited to complete the transaction via a KakaoTalk open chat room. Having previously conducted non-face-to-face transactions through open chat rooms, Hwang did not suspect anything unusual, listened to the seller's explanation, and transferred 200,000 won for the ticket.

However, the seller then demanded a second payment, claiming that identity verification could not be completed. The seller explained that because the payment was made to a business account, the depositor's name should have been entered as the user ID rather than the real name to confirm the buyer's identity. Believing the seller's claim that the initial 200,000 won would be refunded once the second payment was confirmed, Hwang sent another 200,000 won. After that, the seller cut off all contact.

A soccer ticket scammer is demanding a refund from the buyer. Photo by Reader

As friendly matches featuring international football clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur FC and FC Barcelona approach, ticket scams are proliferating on secondhand trading platforms. The scams are becoming more sophisticated, with methods ranging from simple "ghosting" after receiving payment, to repeatedly demanding additional payments under the pretext of identity verification, ultimately swindling buyers out of two to three times the original ticket price.

On July 9, numerous posts about ticket scam victims were found on online communities such as Naver Cafe. FC Barcelona is scheduled to play a friendly match against FC Seoul at Seoul World Cup Stadium on July 31, while Tottenham Hotspur FC and Newcastle United FC are set to face off at Suwon World Cup Stadium on August 3. One victim lost 400,000 won to a scam involving tickets for the Tottenham Hotspur FC match. The seller requested an advance payment and showed the victim a photo of their ID card, which convinced the victim that the transaction was legitimate. However, after the payment was made, the seller disappeared and cut off all contact.

With secondhand ticket prices soaring, buyers are increasingly vulnerable to scams. In an attempt to secure tickets at a lower price, buyers may be tempted to make advance payments without proper verification. For example, the official price for a first-class B seat at the Tottenham Hotspur FC friendly is 280,000 won, but tickets are listed for 400,000 won on secondhand platforms. In the case of FC Barcelona, third-class B tickets with a face value of 40,000 won are being sold for 140,000 won, and first-class B tickets originally priced at 300,000 won are being traded for 550,000 won. According to the National Sports Promotion Act, selling tickets above their purchase price can result in up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won.

The scale of football ticket scams is not as large as in other sports. As of July 8, there had been 36 football ticket scam cases reported to the anti-financial fraud platform TheCheat this year, with total damages amounting to 18.09 million won. Although this is smaller than the losses from baseball ticket scams (3,172 cases, 851.02 million won), the methods used in both sports are similar, so caution is advised.

Not only ticket scams, but also the sale of uniforms to wear to matches has become a target for fraudsters. Lee Woojin, 30, recently tried to buy a Tottenham Hotspur FC uniform for 150,000 won on a secondhand trading platform, even though its official price was 190,000 won, but narrowly avoided being scammed. Lee said, "Before sending the money, I asked the seller for a photo of the uniform tag to check if it was counterfeit. When I checked, it turned out to be a fake. When I confronted the seller, they blocked me and deleted the post."

Lee Woonghyuk, a professor of police studies at Konkuk University, stated, "The amount lost per person in ticket scams may not seem large, but the total damage is significant, so more investigators should be assigned to these cases. When conducting non-face-to-face secondhand transactions, always use the platform's secure payment system, and never make advance payments to someone you do not know well, especially when dealing through open chat rooms."