At least S$213,000 lost to Taylor Swift concert ticket scams in past 2 months

SINGAPORE: At least S$213,000 (US$158,000) were lost to Taylor Swift concert ticket scams over the past two months.

More than 330 victims fell prey to such scams in January and February, the Singapore Police Force said on Friday (Mar 1).

Swift is currently in Singapore for six sold-out shows - her only shows in Southeast Asia.

"The police would like to remind members of the public to be discerning online shoppers, especially when seeking to buy concert tickets from third-party resellers, in light of the upcoming Taylor Swift concerts," said the police.

Last month, the police warned of concert ticket scams, mostly to shows of Swift, Coldplay, Yoasobi, Joker Xue and Enhypen.

Carousell has suspended the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets. Police warned that scammers may pivot to other platforms – in particular, Telegram. 

FAKE TICKETS

Victims would come across Taylor Swift concert ticket listings for sale on online platforms such as Telegram, X, Facebook and Xiaohongshu.

Scammers would then redirect victims to WhatsApp, Telegram or WeChat, where they would instruct victims to make payments via PayNow, bank transfers or virtual credits, such as iTunes cards.

The victims realised they had been scammed when the tickets were not delivered or when the scammers became uncontactable.

"For victims who received their tickets, they would realise they had been scammed when tickets were found to be invalid at concert venues or when scammers refused to provide physical tickets or any proof of authenticity," said the police.

The police urged people against buying tickets from third-party resellers and to only buy from authorised sellers. Legitimate ticket marketplaces, such as Ticketmaster, offer verification of tickets and guaranteed refunds to those who receive invalid tickets.

People should only make payment after receiving the tickets, the police said.