Both SM Entertainment and HYBE have spoken out to warn fans about a scam using several of their artists’ names.
On February 3, both agencies issued an official warning about a fraudulent event called the “Fest World Tour”. The tour, which has now been revealed as a hoax, falsely advertised that it would hold concerts in Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand with NCT DREAM, WayV, SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN and MIRAE.
SM Entertainment, PLEDIS Entertainment, and BELIFT LAB have all announced that their artists are not participating in any such event, with the latter two agencies adding that they will take legal action against the illegal use of their artists’ names.
PLEDIS Entertainment’s full statement in English is as follows:
Hello. This is PLEDIS Entertainment.
We would like to inform you that the opening of an unlicensed tour infringing SEVENTEEN’s intellectual property has been announced online without our company’s consent. SEVENTEEN is not participating in this event. CARATs are advised to exercise extreme caution so as not to be adversely affected.
Event name: FEST WORLD TOUR 2023 Event area/country: Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand
If you have already purchased tickets for the above event, please request a refund from the event organizer immediately. Our company is not responsible for any damages caused by this event as it is an unauthorized event.
We would also like to inform you that we will take legal action against such illegal and unauthorized attempts to infringe the artist’s IP. We will continue to protect the rights of our artists.
Thank you.
Meanwhile, SM True released the following statement in English:
We noticed that the organization mentioned our artists NCT DREAM and WayV saying that they are participating in the event in Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.
We would like to inform the public that this information is misleading and incorrect. We would like to point out that our artists, NCT DREAM and WayV, will not be participating in this event.
We would like to ask the public not to respond to these schemes.
The full statement of BELIFT LAB in English can be found below:
Hello. This is BELIFT LAB.
Any external event that ENHYPEN will participate in is jointly announced to BELIFT LAB and the event organizers, followed by discussions between the two parties. The event organizers or hosts will not announce the event without official announcement on official ENHYPEN channels. An unauthorized event that violates ENHYPEN’s intellectual property has been reported online and we advise all ENGENEs not to be adversely affected.
We would also like to inform you that we will take legal action against such illegal and unauthorized attempts to infringe the artist’s IP. We will continue to protect the rights of our artists.
