"Borrowing Phones and Attaching/Detaching Bracelets"... New Methods Flourish Amidst Crackdown on Scalping

Entry wristband removal by hand technique
Various tricks including joint entry rampant
Performance industry urges ban on unofficial transactions

As crackdowns on ticket scalping in the recent performance market intensify, new methods to bypass identity verification procedures are becoming widespread. Representative examples include transferring wristbands and renting mobile phones under another person's name. With various loopholes rampant, there are calls for legal and institutional measures.

On the 4th, searching for 'moving bracelets' on social networking service (SNS) revealed about 10 related accounts and posts showing successful bracelet disassembly.

On the 4th, searching for 'wristband transfer' on the social networking service (SNS) X yielded about 10 accounts related to ticket scalping. Wristband transfer refers to cutting the admission wristband worn for identity verification and handing it over to the ticket transferee. This trick emerged as the performance industry began requiring both the ticket and the admission wristband to be verified upon entry.

There are even specialists who exclusively transfer wristbands. These wristbands are made of special paper and cannot be reattached once removed. However, using manual skills, they can be disassembled without damage and reattached. These operators visit concert venues on-site and earn money by disassembling the admission wristbands.

In fact, when Asia Economy inquired via SNS on the same day about admission tickets for an audition program of a certain broadcasting company, the operator proposed, "If you prepay a service fee of 30,000 won, I will meet you on-site that day and transfer the wristband worn by the ticket seller to the transferee's wrist," adding, "If the wristband accidentally breaks, I will refund the full amount."

Ticket scalpers are neutralizing the performance industry's efforts to strengthen crackdowns on illegal transactions through loopholes such as mobile phone rentals. Mobile phone rental emerged as a method after online ticket sellers started sending electronic tickets to smartphones registered under the buyer's name. The seller hands over their smartphone containing the ticket, and the transferee enters the venue with it, returning the device later.

Scalpers demand premiums ranging from tens of thousands to over one million won on the condition of mobile phone rental. For example, a ticket for a boy group concert held in July was officially priced at 154,000 won, but some scalpers sold tickets at 1.4 million won on the condition of renting the phone.

The 'accompanied entry' trick, where the seller books two tickets and enters together with the transferee, is also widespread. This method exploits the fact that the event organizer only verifies the identity of the person who directly booked the tickets, allowing the transferee to enter pretending to be an acquaintance. The seller charges an additional fee of around 100,000 won to the transferee as an 'on-site assistance fee' during this process.

The performance industry is urging that all ticket transactions outside the channels authorized by the planning agencies be defined as illegal transactions and that penalty regulations be established. Currently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is pushing for amendments to the Performance Act to prohibit ticket transactions involving premiums, but there is a limitation in that scalping involving selling tickets below face value cannot be prevented.

Ko Gi-ho, director of the Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association, emphasized, "There is also a large volume of trick transactions where festival admission wristbands are split by time slots and sold cheaply," adding, "It is necessary not only to ban premium transactions but also to establish measures to define all online sales not going through official channels as illegal and punishable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.