S$571,000 lost to e-commerce concert ticket scams since January; most cases involved Taylor Swift shows
These "tickets" are often listed for sale on online platforms such as Telegram, X, Facebook, Carousell and Xiaohongshu.
SINGAPORE: At least S$571,000 (US$427,000) has been lost to e-commerce scams involving concert tickets since January, with most cases involving Taylor Swift’s shows.
The police on Thursday said that at least 1,241 victims were cheated after they came across "tickets" for sale through online platforms such as Telegram, X, Facebook, Carousell and Xiaohongshu.
A total of 45 people are being investigated for their suspected involvement in these scams following a recent enforcement operation conducted between Feb 26 and Mar 5.
Preliminary investigations found that the 25 men and 20 women, aged between 17 and 57, allegedly facilitated the crimes in several ways.
Most of them opened new bank accounts and relinquished them to scammers or gave away their existing bank accounts.
Some used their banking or Singpass credentials allegedly to apply for fake trading accounts, fake jobs or loan schemes. Their credentials were then phished and misused instead.
“One of them had allegedly attempted a job task which required him to receive and transfer money through his bank account, for a commission of as high as S$60,” the police said.
Several fans were observed to have been denied entry into the first of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concerts in Singapore as they had invalid tickets. Some of them were victims of scams who purchased tickets from unauthorised dealers. They include tourists and die-hards who bought tickets for multiple days. Aslam Shah with more.
TELEGRAM, WHATSAPP
E-commerce concert ticket scams lure interested buyers through online listings. Scammers then redirect victims to WhatsApp, Telegram or WeChat for further interactions before instructing them to pay via PayNow, bank transfers or virtual credits such as iTunes cards.
Tickets would often not materialise or scammers would fail to show proof of authenticity.
"For victims who received their tickets, they would realise they had been scammed when tickets were found to be invalid at the concert venues," said the police.
The police also warned that scammers have also "pivoted" to other platforms, in particular Telegram, after Carousell suspended the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets.
The consumer marketplace suspended ticket sales for The Eras Tour from Feb 23, citing a rise in ticket scams in the lead-up to the US pop sensation's six sold-out shows in Singapore. Existing listings were removed by Feb 26.
The move affected Carousell's platforms in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.
Concert ticket scams have made the headlines in recent weeks, involving shows of other performers such as Coldplay, Yoasobi, Joker Xue and Enhypen.
To avoid falling victim to such crimes, the police advised members of the public to take precautionary measures such as downloading the ScamShield App and setting up security features like two-factor authentication and banking transaction limits.
"If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Purchase only from authorised sellers or reputable sources and be wary of attractive, time-sensitive deals where only limited stocks are available," said the police.
Those with information relating to such crimes can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online.