Fake BTS ARIRANG tour tickets: K-pop fans being targeted by scammers | Kaspersky official blog
BTS, a global K-pop phenomenon, has recently made a comeback from an almost four-year hiatus: the members of the group were completing mandatory military service in South Korea. For this reason it comes as no surprise that cybercriminals have taken advantage of the band’s highly anticipated world-tour — ARIRANG — to launch a campaign of fake websites targeting fans eager to buy tickets.
We’ve identified at least 10 fraudulent domains that mimic the official pre‑sale pages for the band’s concerts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, and Spain — all created in early April. We explain how the scammers operate, and how to avoid buying fake tickets.
How the fake ticket scam works
Due to the high demand for the world-tour tickets, some of the event organizers prepared additional measures to ensure there are no ticket scalpers. In Brazil, the ticketing services adopted a “pre‑booking” format: the user first makes an online reservation, and then pays in person at the box office. Although in essence a good idea, the change has caused confusion among fans and created an opportunity for criminals to commit fraud.
Scammers create pages that are nearly identical to the official ones, replicating the layout, design, and the entire purchasing journey. For ordinary users, the experience seems completely legitimate. The links to these websites are circulating on social media — mainly on Instagram.
In Brazil, victims are prompted to make payments via PIX — an instant payment system operated by the Central Bank of Brazil. In some cases, the sites even simulate a card‑payment option, but claim high demand or system errors to pressure users into choosing PIX. PIX payments are then directed to money mule accounts — making it difficult to recover the funds.
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- Fake website imitating the Brazilian Ticketmaster. The design is almost indistinguishable from the original
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- This fake Brazilian website makes it seem as if the user can choose between card payment and instant payment. In reality, choosing the bank card option always results in fake “errors”. In the end, the victim is left with no choice but to pay via the PIX system
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- This scam page targeted at Mexican fans is selling a fake BTS membership. It’s a fraudulent copy of Weverse — a legitimate website that hosts K-pop communities and sells fan-club memberships
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- This is the French version of a fake Ticketmaster
The scam is a perfect example of how social engineering works. It exploits a massive and highly engaged fanbase — leading many users to act impulsively. The fake “errors” that the website displays during payment create a sense of urgency and cause panic — the scammers are well aware of how quickly BTS tickets sell out. In addition, doubts about the new purchasing system established by the event organizers help criminals make fake websites even more convincing.
How to protect yourself from ticket scams
If you really want to get tickets to your favorite group’s concert but not fall victim to the scammers, it’s important to keep these basic cybersecurity rules in mind:
- Access only official ticketing services, which you can find on the official page dedicated to BTS’s tour. Type the website address directly into your browser, and avoid links received via messages, social media, or email.
- Check the domain carefully. Slight changes in the address often indicate fraud. This includes additional dashes, unusual territorial domains, and hardly-noticeable changes like replacing a lowercase “l” (L) with an uppercase “I” (i).
- Check the website for Privacy Policy and Terms of Use pages. If they’re missing, you’re definitely visiting a fake website. But remember: their presence doesn’t guarantee that the site is legitimate. With modern AI, generating such pages takes only a few seconds.
- Carefully check the sales format for each country. In Brazil, payment should only be made in person, so any request for online payment during the pre‑sale is a strong indication of a scam. Other countries and event organizers may offer online payments.
- If you’ve been scammed, immediately contact your bank. If you provided bank card information to the criminals, you should reissue your card to prevent further unauthorized payments.
- Enable banking alerts. Real-time notifications allow you to quickly identify suspicious transactions.
- Use cybersecurity protection that detects and automatically blocks fraudulent websites. Kaspersky Premium, our robust cybersecurity solution, also shuts down phishing attempts, protects your personal data, and helps safeguard your identity.
- Beware of “free” or “discounted” tickets. Ultimately, there’s never such a thing as a free lunch — especially when it comes to world‑famous music groups.
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