Scalpers tremble as Daegu police nab ticket reseller who pocketed nearly W50m

Another pro baseball scalper has been caught — this time in Daegu. The suspect resold tickets at up to 12 times their face value, netting close to 50 million won ($37,700) in illicit proceeds.

The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency announced Sunday it had arrested a man in his 30s, identified only as A, on charges of violating the National Sports Promotion Act for using macro programs to bulk-purchase pro baseball tickets and resell them at a markup on online platforms.

A is accused of using a program that automatically bypasses CAPTCHA security checks on ticketing websites to book pro baseball tickets at 18,000 won apiece starting in mid-May last year, then reselling them on ticket-trading and secondhand marketplaces at up to 240,000 won — 12 times the original price.

Through this scheme, he allegedly sold 1,366 tickets across 636 transactions through late September this year, generating about 45 million won in proceeds.

Police said they are also investigating multiple other suspected online scalpers by monitoring transaction posts on ticketing and resale sites and analyzing sales records.

Authorities said they plan to step up enforcement during the pro baseball postseason, anticipating a surge in macro-assisted scalping activity.