5 Steps to Check Whether an Agency Is Legitimate
Audition scams
Check 대중문화예술기획업 registration, compare audition notices on official channels, and verify the email domain and office address to spot impersonators and fake agencies.
1. Check the agency registration
To manage entertainers in Korea, a company must have 대중문화예술기획업 등록 (registration as a popular culture and arts planning business). Search for the company name, representative, registration number, and business status on the 대중문화예술 종합정보시스템 (Comprehensive Information System for Popular Culture and Arts) at ent.kocca.kr, then check that they match the company name and representative you were given. You can also see whether the company has suspended or closed its operations.
2. Is the same notice on an official channel?
Check whether the same audition notice has been posted on the agency’s official website or social media account. Be suspicious of a "private audition" shared only through a personal account, open chat, or direct message.
3. Check the email domain
Look at the domain after @ in the contact person’s email and see whether it matches the address of the agency’s official website. Free email services (such as gmail.com or naver.com) or lookalike domains with one or two letters changed are signs of impersonation.
4. Office address and main phone number
- Search the address on a map to check whether it is an actual office, rather than a home or lodging business.
- Call the main phone number listed on the official website and ask whether the contact person works there and whether the audition is taking place.
- You have not verified anything if you only check using the number the other person gave you.
5. Are they asking for money or photos?
If they ask you to pay money upfront for any reason or request revealing photos or body measurements through a personal messenger, stop, regardless of their registration status.
On StagePass
A verification badge on an agency page means the operations team has checked its registration information. If someone without a badge asks you to move the conversation to an external messenger, report it as a suspected scam.
Source: 한국콘텐츠진흥원
Translated from Korean by StagePass. The Korean original is authoritative.