Authorities have arrested a woman for online property fraud after she resold Blackpink concert tickets at exorbitant prices, causing a total loss of THB700,000 (US$20,000) to her customers.
Cyber and provincial police arrested 26-year-old Nattharika “Disco” Yangsuai, known online as “Disco the E-Ticket Goddess” or “E-Ticket Mama” in her dormitory in Bangkok’s Ladprao district today.
A warrant for her arrest was issued in late April for online property fraud for repeatedly selling tickets to the Blackpink concerts that took place last weekend and even reselling the same tickets to different people after claiming they were sold out.
Further investigation found that Nattharika had a criminal history including nine more cases related to ticket fraud.
The suspect told police she made money selling tickets to a number of different concerts in Thailand, particularly the Blackpink tickets, which were in hot demand.
With the help of friends and her sister, she purchased approximately 200 concert tickets, priced at THB9,600 baht each, from the second most expensive category next to the VIP tickets being sold for THB14,800. She resold her tickets at prices ranging from THB15,000 to THB30,000 baht per ticket.
She made a substantial profit but demand for tickets kept growing. In her greed, she decided to resell the E-tickets that she had already sold to other customers. As a result, on the day of the Blackpink concert, there were many cases where multiple “Blinks” had tickets assigned to the same seats, tickets that were traced back to ticket Nattharika as the original owner. The affected parties reported the incident, leading to her arrest and legal proceedings.
Nattharika stated that she had gradually refunded money to some of the “Blink” victims. However, there were still many who have not received refunds because she had no money left. She fled her previous residence and stayed in the Ladprao area until she was apprehended by the police. She admitted her guilt and pledged to make every effort to return the money to all of her victims.
Maj. Gen. Teeradet Thammasut of the provincial police stated that they did not believe the statements or apologies made by the suspect. The primary evidence police gathered from the victims was solid and the in-depth investigation revealed the suspect has a history of online gambling, which led to greed and quick money-making schemes to fund more online gambling.
Upon checking the suspect’s history, it was found that she had been involved in nine previous criminal cases including fraud offenses in April, October and November of last year.
Nattharika is currently being held at Nong Khae Police Station in Saraburi province while awaiting legal proceedings.
Blackpink recently held their encore concert in Bangkok last weekend on May 27 and 28 at Rajamangala National Stadium instead of Suphachalasai Stadium. Ticket prices ranged from THB2,800 to THB14,800.
