{"id":29693,"date":"2026-02-19T17:33:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=29693"},"modified":"2026-02-19T17:33:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:33:38","slug":"bts-fans-targeted-by-scammers-ahead-of-world-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=29693","title":{"rendered":"BTS fans targeted by scammers ahead of world tour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013 Scammers are targeting fans of BTS ahead of the K-pop group\u2019s highly anticipated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/life\/entertainment\/army-get-ready-bts-gwanghwamun-comeback-show-tickets-drop-feb-23-open-to-singapore-fans?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">Arirang World Tour<\/p>\n<p><\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Cybersecurity company <!-- -->Kaspersky<!-- --> has discovered several fraudulent websites mimicking global fan platform Weverse that prompt unsuspecting fans to make purchases on these sites, it said on Feb 19. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">However, these websites have no affiliation with BTS, their agency BigHit Music or Weverse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">BTS recently announced plans for their long-awaited fifth full-length album and world tour. Most of the information, including ticketing and dates, was announced on Weverse, where fans can purchase fan club memberships and merchandise of their favourite idols. <\/p>\n<p>Besides losing money from the initial purchase, victims may also have their credentials stolen and used for other fraudulent activities, warned Kaspersky. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The company advised people to remain vigilant and take the necessary precautions when making online purchases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">These include verifying the authenticity of online stores before making purchases, using trusted payment methods and using reliable security solutions to detect malicious pages and block phishing attempts. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cPeriods of excitement and anticipation leading up to celebrity concerts, unfortunately, also create ideal opportunities for cybercriminals,\u201d said <!-- -->Mr Adrian Hia, Kaspersky\u2019s managing director for Asia-Pacific<!-- -->. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He said scammers often exploit the feelings of excitement and urgency that individuals experience, as these can \u201coverride our sense of caution and reduce our inclination to scrutinise\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cAs we head into 2026 with numerous pop concerts planned in the Asia-Pacific region, it is crucial that we exercise caution and take proactive steps to protect ourselves from these scams, especially as AI continues to enhance their deceptive capabilities,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">While Kaspersky did not have specific data for incidents involving BTS, it found 6.7 million phishing attacks targeting users of online stores, delivery companies and payment systems from November 2024 to October 2025. <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Some <!-- -->50.6<!-- --> per cent of these attacks targeted online stores, said the company.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"landscape inline-media-wrapper\" data-testid=\"inline-media-test-id\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col items-start relative w-fit\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/cdfd7f43095187d66dc7a40911b0d34de619138180891d1759bd153e4d71c9b1?w=480\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 720px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/cdfd7f43095187d66dc7a40911b0d34de619138180891d1759bd153e4d71c9b1?w=720\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 721px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/cdfd7f43095187d66dc7a40911b0d34de619138180891d1759bd153e4d71c9b1?w=900\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cassette.sphdigital.com.sg\/image\/straitstimes\/cdfd7f43095187d66dc7a40911b0d34de619138180891d1759bd153e4d71c9b1\" alt=\"\" class=\"aspect-landscape flex items-start shrink-0 object-cover landscape article-landscape mobile:w-auto tablet:w-auto\" data-testid=\"image-test-id\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"mobile:mx-16 tablet:mx-00 flex flex-col gap-08 py-16 desktop:pb-24\">\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-secondary\" data-testid=\"inline-media-caption-test-id\">A fraudulent website\u2019s payment page for BTS fan club membership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-eyebrow-baseline-regular text-placeholder\" data-testid=\"inline-media-credit-test-id\">PHOTO: COURTESY OF KASPERSKY<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/bts-fans-targeted-by-scammers-ahead-of-k-pop-groups-world-tour-concerts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 Scammers are targeting fans of BTS ahead of the K-pop group\u2019s highly anticipated Arirang World Tour . Cybersecurity company Kaspersky has discovered several&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}