Three people have been arrested over an illegal ticket-scalping scheme targeting the Shanghai concert of popular boy band Teens in Times (TNT), Shanghai police said recently.

Investigators spotted irregularities in ticket sales for the group's Shanghai show and suspected the use of "plug-in" software — a tool designed to bypass normal purchasing procedures and snap up seats in seconds.

Following a digital trail, police arrested the three suspects on August 12 in Shanghai and other provinces, seizing two computers allegedly used to run the software and 138 mobile phones linked to the operation.

According to the investigation, a suspect surnamed Wang developed the program before tickets officially went on sale and introduced it to another suspect, Yang. The two agreed to split any profits from scalped tickets. Yang later teamed up with a third suspect, Liu, to promote "ticket-snatching services" on WeChat Moments and other platforms, promising fans a better chance to secure seats.

They allegedly charged customers an extra 1,000 to 4,000 yuan (US$139–556) per ticket. Using the software, the trio secured a large number of tickets for the TNT show, reselling them for a profit exceeding 100,000 yuan.

The suspects are now under criminal detention as the investigation continues.