{"id":35774,"date":"2026-04-09T06:46:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/?p=35774"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:47:11","slug":"bts-world-tour-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/35774\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake ticket websites exploiting BTS world tour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s highly anticipated world-tour \u2014 ARIRANG \u2014 to launch a campaign of fake websites targeting fans eager to buy tickets.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve identified at least 10 fraudulent domains that mimic the official pre\u2011sale pages for the band\u2019s concerts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, and Spain \u2014 all created in early April. We explain how the scammers operate, and how to avoid buying fake tickets.<\/p>\n<h2>How the fake ticket scam works<\/h2>\n<p>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 \u201cpre\u2011booking\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2014 mainly on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>In Brazil, victims are prompted to make payments via PIX \u2014 an instant payment system operated by the Central Bank of Brazil. In some cases, the sites even simulate a card\u2011payment option, but claim high demand or system errors to pressure users into choosing PIX. PIX payments are then directed to money mule accounts \u2014 making it difficult to recover the funds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-gallery-slider js-gallery-slider\"><dl class=\"gallery-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dt class=\"gallery-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124938\/bts-world-tour-scam-01.jpg\" title=\"Fake website imitating the Brazilian Ticketmaster. The design is almost indistinguishable from the original \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124938\/bts-world-tour-scam-01-329x465.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"bts-world-tour-scam-01.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dd class=\"wp-caption-text gallery-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFake website imitating the Brazilian Ticketmaster. The design is almost indistinguishable from the original \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dd>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dl><dl class=\"gallery-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dt class=\"gallery-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124944\/bts-world-tour-scam-02.png\" title=\"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 \u201cerrors\u201d. In the end, the victim is left with no choice but to pay via the PIX system \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124944\/bts-world-tour-scam-02-329x465.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"bts-world-tour-scam-02.png\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dd class=\"wp-caption-text gallery-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis 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 \u201cerrors\u201d. In the end, the victim is left with no choice but to pay via the PIX system \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dd>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dl><dl class=\"gallery-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dt class=\"gallery-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124949\/bts-world-tour-scam-03.jpg\" title=\"This scam page targeted at Mexican fans is selling a fake BTS membership. It\u2019s a fraudulent copy of Weverse \u2014 a legitimate website that hosts K-pop communities and sells fan-club memberships \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124949\/bts-world-tour-scam-03-329x465.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"bts-world-tour-scam-03.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dd class=\"wp-caption-text gallery-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis scam page targeted at Mexican fans is selling a fake BTS membership. It\u2019s a fraudulent copy of Weverse \u2014 a legitimate website that hosts K-pop communities and sells fan-club memberships \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dd>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dl><dl class=\"gallery-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dt class=\"gallery-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124954\/bts-world-tour-scam-04.jpg\" title=\"This is the French version of a fake Ticketmaster \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/103\/2026\/04\/09124954\/bts-world-tour-scam-04.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"bts-world-tour-scam-04.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<dd class=\"wp-caption-text gallery-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis is the French version of a fake Ticketmaster \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dd>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/dl><\/div>\n<p>The scam is a perfect example of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/social-engineering-tricks\/48539\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">how social engineering works<\/a>. It exploits a massive and highly engaged fanbase \u2014 leading many users to act impulsively. The fake \u201cerrors\u201d that the website displays during payment create a sense of urgency and cause panic \u2014 the scammers are well aware of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.koreatimes.co.kr\/entertainment\/k-pop\/20260325\/sold-out-in-10-seconds-what-can-stop-macro-driven-k-pop-ticketing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">how quickly<\/a>\u00a0BTS tickets sell out. In addition, doubts about the new purchasing system established by the event organizers help criminals make fake websites even more convincing.<\/p>\n<h2>How to protect yourself from ticket scams<\/h2>\n<p>If you really want to get tickets to your favorite group\u2019s concert but not fall victim to the scammers, it\u2019s important to keep these basic cybersecurity rules in mind:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Access only official ticketing services<\/strong>, which you can find on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ibighit.com\/en\/bts\/tour\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">official page dedicated to BTS\u2019s tour<\/a>. Type the website address directly into your browser, and avoid links received via messages, social media, or email.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check the domain carefully.<\/strong>\u00a0Slight changes in the address often indicate fraud. This includes additional dashes, unusual territorial domains, and hardly-noticeable changes like replacing a lowercase \u201cl\u201d (L) with an uppercase \u201cI\u201d (i).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check the website for Privacy Policy and Terms of Use pages.<\/strong>\u00a0If they\u2019re missing, you\u2019re definitely visiting a fake website. But remember: their presence doesn\u2019t guarantee that the site is legitimate. With modern AI, generating such pages takes only a few seconds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Carefully check the sales format for each country.<\/strong>\u00a0In Brazil, payment should only be made in person, so any request for online payment during the pre\u2011sale is a strong indication of a scam. Other countries and event organizers may offer online payments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If you\u2019ve been scammed, immediately contact your bank.<\/strong>\u00a0If you provided bank card information to the criminals, you should reissue your card to prevent further unauthorized payments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enable banking alerts.<\/strong>\u00a0Real-time notifications allow you to quickly identify suspicious transactions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/premium?icid=en-za_bb2022-kdplacehd_acq_ona_smm__onl_b2c_kdaily_lnk_sm-team___kprem___\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cybersecurity protection<\/a> that detects and automatically blocks fraudulent websites<\/strong>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/premium?icid=en-za_bb2022-kdplacehd_acq_ona_smm__onl_b2c_kdaily_lnk_sm-team___kprem___\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kaspersky Premium<\/a>, our robust cybersecurity solution, also shuts down phishing attempts, protects your personal data, and helps safeguard your identity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Beware of \u201cfree\u201d or \u201cdiscounted\u201d tickets<\/strong>. Ultimately, there\u2019s never such a thing as a free lunch \u2014 especially when it comes to world\u2011famous music groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>More on scams:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/spam-and-phishing-2025\/55295\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Phishing and spam: the wildest campaigns of 2025<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/ai-phishing-and-scams\/54445\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">How phishers and scammers use AI<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/brushing-quishin%E2%80%A6expected-parcels\/54126\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The scam on your doorstep<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/how-to-protect-from-online-scam\/43908\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">8 more tips for spotting online scammers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/online-scam-red-flags\/43212\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">5 online scam red flags<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<input type=\"hidden\" class=\"category_for_banner\" value=\"premium-generic\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kaspersky experts have detected fake websites that steal money from BTS fans during ticket pre sales. We explain how to stay vigilant and not fall victim to the scammers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2706,"featured_media":35780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2670],"tags":[80,726,422],"class_list":{"0":"post-35774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-threats","8":"tag-fraud","9":"tag-scam","10":"tag-threats"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/35774\/"},{"hreflang":"en-in","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/30386\/"},{"hreflang":"en-ae","url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/25436\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/30234\/"},{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/55581\/"},{"hreflang":"pt-br","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.br\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/24877\/"},{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/bts-world-tour-scam\/36123\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/tag\/scam\/","name":"scam"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35774"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35785,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35774\/revisions\/35785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}