One Lead in Suspicious Transactions Uncovers a Ticket-Scalping Operation Worth 'KRW 2.4 Billion'

National Police Agency selects 20 achievements for special awards with tangible public impact
Key achievements include the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency Cybercrime Investigation Unit

Police have uncovered the identity of a professional ticket scalper who sold nearly 9,000 tickets on the black market using illegal automated ticket-buying programs over eight years and generated proceeds worth 2.4 billion won. The case had initially amounted to nothing more than suspicious transactions.

The National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Reporter Kim Hyunmin.

The National Police Agency said on Oct. 14 that it had held its eighth Special Performance Reward Deliberation Committee meeting and selected 20 cases for recognition. The total rewards amount to 184 million won. Among the leading examples selected were the arrest of ticket scalpers who used automated programs and efforts that led to the introduction of temporary protection centers for people who had attempted suicide and people with mental illnesses.

Three officers, including Sergeant Kim Chunjung of the Cybercrime Investigation Unit at the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency, will receive a reward of 15 million won. From September 2018 through April this year, the investigation team tracked down and arrested a professional ticket scalper who used automated programs and other people's accounts to secure 8,967 tickets to performances and sporting events in bulk and resell them for about 2.4 billion won in profits.

The case began with 69 suspicious transactions. Data from the Korea Creative Content Agency showed only that one seller had sold 69 tickets over three months, but police followed the trail using a single lead: the seller's identifying information. They cross-analyzed transaction records from online platforms and telecommunications data, and also uncovered records of earlier transactions.

Mr. A was found to have used the proceeds from ticket scalping to purchase one apartment and two commercial properties. Police took pre-indictment asset preservation measures for potential forfeiture against assets worth about 1.3 billion won, including the commercial properties and bank deposit claims.

The investigation team had already earned recognition for its digital-tracking capabilities, ranking first in arrests in cybersexual-crime investigations for three consecutive years and being named a "Top-Cyber Team" in 2024. Sergeant Kim said, "I will take this award as both encouragement and a reminder to take responsibility for every case and investigate it through to the end. I will become a cyber investigator whom the public can trust by acting with an even greater sense of responsibility."

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