'War' for BTS tour tickets turns into nightmare for fans who fell for online scams

'War' for BTS tour tickets turns into nightmare for fans who have fallen for online scams
Big Hit Music
When young Indonesian Vevee logged into Ticketmaster on June 9, she believed her years-long wait to see the group BTS was finally coming to an end.
Like millions of fans around the world, the 26-year-old thought she was ready for the battle of getting tickets online. She even took the day off from work.
The group's extensive global tour would make a stop in her city - Indonesia's capital, Jakarta - and as a longtime fan, she couldn't imagine missing it.
Sitting at her computer, her eyes fixed on the queue number that would determine her destination, Vevee waited for hours. When it was his turn, he received the news that the tickets had sold out.
But there was a new sales process. And she tried again, but - again - her luck didn't change. "It seemed impossible because the demand was simply absurd," she tells the BBC.
Determined to secure her place, Vevee found an account reselling tickets at X and spent US$1,200 on four VIP seats. That's about two months' salary.
But soon after, they stopped responding. "As soon as I sent the money, they disappeared. It's horrible. I'm very sad and heartbroken," says the 26-year-old.
J-Hope, from BTS, joined the 6-7 'trend', to the rhythm of the viral song in Portuguese
Desperate fans in Southeast Asia, where BTS will perform 15 of the 88 shows, lost more than US$100,000 as scammers take advantage of the enormous demand for tickets.
It's been a month of ups and downs for fans of the band, who call themselves Army.
Happy to see BTS back on stage after the pandemic and a three-year hiatus, but frustrated by the extremely fierce competition for tickets, they have become easy targets for scammers.
In Thailand, parliamentarians are considering a petition made by 126 fans who were scammed - they want help getting on a "waiting line".
Scammers also infiltrate online fan groups, promising exclusive access or lower prices.
As soon as the money is transferred, they disappear. Some even offer "powers of attorney" - often used to transfer legal decisions to someone else - to convince victims that the tickets are authentic.
These are well-known enough tactics that authorities have issued several warnings. Even so, fans continue to be deceived.
Vevee at BTS's 2019 concert in Bangkok
Personal archive
Scammers feign urgency
The tour, which began in April and runs until 2027, will visit 34 cities. BTS and its record label Hybe could earn almost US$2 billion from the return, coming from shows, merchandise, licensing, album sales and streaming revenue, analysts told Reuters.
Across Asia, the number of people vying for tickets exceeded the amount available by 15 times, according to the BBC.
New dates continue to be added due to impressive demand. Last week, Jakarta and Bulacan in the Philippines confirmed a third show each.
When the new date was announced, Vevee decided to "fight for those tickets again" but through official means, unlike last time when panic was louder, she explains.
"I was about to go into a work meeting and I was really scared that someone else would get the tickets. I just wanted to transfer the money quickly just in case," he says.
"If I had taken a moment to calm down, I might have noticed the warning signs."
BTS fans put up posters with their favorite song titles ahead of their first comeback concert in March in South Korea
Getty Images
In Singapore, police have received at least 62 reports involving BTS concert tickets since June 1, with losses of more than 68,000 Singapore dollars (about R$270,000).
E-commerce company Carousell has suspended the resale of tickets on its platform, and the ban will remain in effect until December 22, the date of BTS' final concert in Singapore.
Last week, Malaysian police said they had received 28 reports from people who claim they had been scammed when trying to secure tickets. Authorities are trying to track down "orange accounts" involved in the transactions, they said.
In the early years, BTS concerts took place. mainly in South Korea, Japan and the USA. As the band became more famous around the world, the tour schedule expanded to more regions in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
But the current Arirang World Tour is the first time that the group has performed multiple shows in five Southeast Asian countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Tickets in the region cost between US$100 and US$300. The most expensive package includes access to the sound check before the show, premium seats and BTS merchandise.
For fans like Vevee - who have followed the group through its highs, lows and then its meteoric rise - watching the new tour is something special.
Juraluk Kunaruk (first from right) at the Thai Parliament
Supplied by Juraluk Kunaruk
Vevee says she was 14 when she discovered BTS, about a year after the group's debut in 2013. She liked the music, but also the seven members - RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, V, Jimin and Jungkook - who she describes as "very genuine".
In 2019, she flew alone to Bangkok to watch BTS on their last world tour. She says it was her first trip alone and that she didn't know anyone at the show, but she received "a lot of help" from other fans. "It was really an unforgettable and wonderful experience."
Seven years later, when she found out that BTS was going to. Jakarta, started saving. "I prepared a lot to get these tickets, but honestly, it's not just me. Every army prepares intensely for this."
She says that some fans rented computers in internet cafes for a whole week because they couldn't take the risk of not getting a seat on sales day. They believe that the computers' high connection speeds could increase their chances.
"In Indonesia, we are not just fighting for the ticket war," says Vevee. "We fight to secure the best internet cafe and even to rent state-of-the-art cell phones. It's a war on all fronts."
And when they lose, they become disheartened.
"Now that the Philippines stop has finally been confirmed after what seems like an eternity, it hurts to know that people who have waited nearly a decade may not get the chance to see them," wrote one Filipino fan on Threads.
"Some of us aren't just trying to go to a show. We're trying to finally see the seven people we've supported for years."
There are also fans who don't want to rely on luck alone.
Last week, Juraluk Kunaruk filed a complaint with Thailand's Parliament on behalf of 126 victims, each of whom transferred hundreds of dollars to the same X user days before ticket sales.
The user had promised to help get good seats. But the day sales started, the X account disappeared.
"I had been following this account for quite some time. They had a lot of reviews and followers, so they seemed trustworthy. The prices were also reasonable," says Juraluk, who lost 25,000 baht ($760) paying for what she thought were VIP packages.
Over the past two weeks, the 23-year-old spent hours traveling from her hometown to Bangkok to meet with parliamentarians. So I still have hope," he says.
She also hasn't given up on the show: "I still want to go because I don't know when I'll get another chance to see them." says it has already "stepped up the fight against scalpers and bots with new AI technology and stricter rules."
For example, tickets will be verified based on attendees' email addresses, while fans with resold tickets may be denied entry on the day of the show.
Fans should "purchase tickets only through official sources," a Ticketmaster spokeswoman told the BBC. unable to resist what appears to be a last chance to get tickets.
Cookie, a fan in the Philippines, turned to a ticket seller after being unable to buy them on two occasions. She thought she had been careful.
"I added her on Facebook, checked her account, what she studied, where she was from," says the 30-year-old customer support representative.
"Like other victims interviewed by the BBC, Cookie had no further response after payment: a The scammer blocked her on Facebook, and she never received the tickets."
Cookie says she feels ashamed for falling for a scam
Supplied
"I feel ashamed. I didn't even tell my family or my closest friends what happened," says Cookie.
"I don't want to be judged or hear 'you're stupid.' It was a desperate act because I really wanted to be there."
Vevee tried again knowing it would be "an uphill battle" because the most recent show in Jakarta takes place on the birthday of one of the members, V.
She failed in her first pre-sale attempt on Friday. "It seems like just everyone is trying for this last show."
Without tickets and in tears, she plotted a strategy for the general sale the next day. one tried to buy tickets from different locations, using different internet connections and accounts."
And this time it worked. She got the tickets.

Source: G1