There have been many cases of scalpers using bots to buy tickets to a concert and resell them at higher prices. Recently, Korean fans voiced frustration after scalpers bought out all the tickets to Girls Day’s (걸스데이) Hyeri’s (혜리) fan meeting and later marked it up five times the original price.
Earlier this month, artist agency Sublime announced that idol-turned-actress Lee Hyeri will kickstart her fan meeting tour in June. Ticket sales for the Seoul stop began yesterday (15th April 2025, Tuesday), and fans were glued to their devices, hoping to get a seat. Unfortunately, many left the ticketing site empty-handed. Adding to their frustration, fans noticed that tickets were soon put up for sale on resell sites, prompting suspicion of scalpers.
Fans alleged that scalpers are using bots to purchase all 1,400 tickets, adding that all seats sold out as soon as they went on sale. Some claimed that Chinese operators hacked the ticketing site’s server before the official release and purchased the tickets as soon as sales went live. The fans also shared a screenshot of a resale site filled with listings of Hyeri’s fan meeting, seemingly proving their suspicions.
Sublime has since issued a statement regarding the issue. In the statement, the agency said it would not tolerate illegal ticket transactions and would take action against the scalpers. Sublime also mentioned cancelling tickets purchased illegally, urging fans to help report any illegal ticket transactions. Any cancelled ticket will then later be made available again for purchase on the official ticketing website.
Fans thanked the company for its swift action, hoping the tickets would soon be available for real fans looking forward to the event. Some also criticised the ticketing site, arguing that its poor security system caused this issue in the first place. Meanwhile, others lamented that Hyeri’s solo fan meeting was ruined by selfish scalpers, noting that she might be disappointed by this situation.
It’s unfortunate that scalpers are still at large and ruining fans’ experiences. We hope ticketing sites will take note of this issue and impose stricter security measures. What are your thoughts on this?
