Police in Daejeon have arrested a suspect accused of using automated programs to buy and resell professional baseball tickets, earning about 570 million won ($400,000) through illegal scalping, officials said Tuesday.
The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Precinct’s cyber investigation unit said the suspect used macro software to buy 10,881 tickets over 5,245 transactions and resell them at inflated prices. The individual faces charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act and business obstruction.
Two other suspects — one who developed the ticket-buying macro and another who sold it — were also arrested.
Macro buyer flipped 10,881 baseball tickets for profit
The main suspect began buying tickets in March 2023 using multiple accounts under different names belonging to family members and acquaintances, according to police. They accessed ticketing sites from PC rooms in Seoul and Gyeonggi, entering buyer information and seat coordinates into a macro program to automate purchases.
The suspect then resold the tickets through online marketplaces, with some going for as much as 15 times the original price.
On March 22, the opening day of the 2025 KBO season, the suspect sold 128 tickets worth 15.27 million won. For the Hanwha Eagles’ home opener in Daejeon, they sold a pair of first-base couple seats — normally priced at 40,000 won — for 400,000 won.
When automated purchases failed, the suspect subscribed to teams’ paid membership programs, which allow early access to ticket sales. They also used “direct links” that connected buyers straight to the seat selection page without waiting in an online queue, significantly speeding up the process. Most KBO teams, including the Eagles, charge around 1 million won for such premium memberships.
“The early booking system encourages illegal ticket scalping with macros and limits fair access for ordinary fans, so it needs to be improved,” police said.
Baseball teams’ paid presale system exploited
The Daejeon cyber investigation unit began a crackdown on macro-based ticket scalping in July and launched a formal investigation after spotting suspicious posts on online communities. Officers arrested the main suspect on July 25 at a PC room in Gyeonggi.
While tracing the source of the macro software, investigators found evidence of online sales of similar programs for concerts and other events. They later tracked down and arrested the developer and seller of the software on Oct. 14. Police said the seller distributed around 8,600 macro programs worth 86 million won in total through 1,488 transactions.
Police vow 'thorough investigations'
“Macro programs used for illegal ticket purchases and direct links to ticketing pages are both illegal,” a police spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that authorities will continue to “conduct thorough investigations to ensure a fair environment for fans to enjoy cultural and sports events.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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