Amid his ongoing fan meet tour, Byeon Woo Seok's fans reportedly suffered from scams and sexual harassment while securing their tickets for the actor's sold-out event.
Keep on reading to know more about the news.
Byeon Woo Seok's Fans Victim of Scams And Online Sexual Harassment While Securing Fan Meeting Tickets
Byeon Woo Seok's fans have fallen victim to illegal ticket scams and some were even harassed while transacting online.
In a media report released on June 19, JTBC's Scandal Supervisor revealed that the ticket sales for Byeon Woo Seok's fan meeting started on May 27, flocked to 700,000 visitors for the 8,000 available seats.
Fans who failed to secure their tickets were still hopeful by looking for resale tickets to be found online. Since there is a high demand, the ticket prices skyrocketed to as much as 6,480 USD (9 million krw), above the original price of 55 USD (77,000 krw).
Scammers took advantage of this demand by demonstrating their successful ticket purchases to attract and gain buyers' trust. These scammers claimed that they would refund the money if there were any issues but then disappeared after receiving payments without transferring the tickets.
Victim A shared her personal experience, "I asked for proof of ticket purchase, and they provided date and time details which seemed credible." However, it turned out that the information was fabricated and edited after payment was made.
In addition, when the victims requested refunds, scammers mocked them.
In a worst-case scenario, one scammer sent an obscene video of themselves and suggested settling the matter with it, even demanding explicit snaps from the victims in return.
Victims of Scams Reach More Than 100 Individuals + Total Losses of 65,000 USD
A victim shared, "I knew it was illegal, but I wanted to support my favorite actor. It's heartbreaking that people exploit such emotions."
After this kind of incident made headlines, an open group chat for victims already had more than 100 members, with total confirmed losses exceeding 65,000 USD (90 million won).
Lawyer Park Ji Hoon noted that online illegal ticket transactions are challenging to regulate, especially when scammers operate from foreign servers. He advised fans not to engage in ticket resale to avoid being scammed.
Meanwhile, Byeon Woo Seok is busy completing his fan meeting tour. He just visited Taipei and Taiwan. The top star is scheduled to meet his fans in Manila, Jakarta, Singapore, Seoul, and Hong Kong next for his sold-out Asia fan meeting tour.
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Shai San Miguel wrote this.
