Gang of 'Bots' Selling Concert Tickets with 200 Smartphones in China Dismantled

It has been revealed that an organized software crime syndicate was behind concert tickets in China selling out within seconds in recent times. According to a statement by the prosecutor's office in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, tickets were automatically purchased within milliseconds using a 'wall' setup consisting of a room containing 200 smartphones that appeared to be white goods. While this advanced software and hardware infrastructure made it impossible for users to purchase tickets through normal channels, the tickets obtained were offered on secondary markets at very high prices.

The process that shed light on the incident began with the ticket sales for a highly popular concert planned to be held in Nanjing, Jiangsu in October 2024. Following complaints from citizens that tickets sold out immediately upon release and suspicions of foul play, police teams sprang into action and launched a detailed investigation. Inspections revealed that the tickets were captured not by individual users, but by a central system controlling a large number of devices.

As a result of the work carried out by the police, a suspect named Li, who previously worked as a software development expert and used this technical knowledge to commit crimes, was placed under surveillance. The software developed by Li, called 'plug-ins', possessed a speed that normal users could not achieve with human reflexes, allowing them to automatically create orders on ticket sales sites within milliseconds. This technological advantage enabled the criminal organization to completely dominate the market and gather tickets for high-demand events in a single hand.

Raids at the suspect's residence revealed the magnitude of the crime; police found a 'control room' where about 200 smartphones were lined up side-by-side, connected to a computer and constantly keeping ticket sales sites under control. It was determined that through these phones, not only a single concert but tickets for various popular artists and events were systematically seized. It emerged that the tickets obtained were sold to intermediaries and fake ticket companies at prices far exceeding the sales price set by the state.

Under Chinese laws, unauthorized access and control of computer systems and using these systems for financial gain are among crimes that carry heavy penalties. This operation, in which more than 16 million yuan (approximately 2 million dollars) of illegal profit was obtained, went down as one of the biggest struggles against ticket scalping known as 'ticket hoarding'. Relevant authorities promised to tighten inspections on internet platforms to prevent the use of such bot software and ensure the fair distribution of event tickets.