At least 462 victims have lost $480,000 to concert ticket scams since Jan 2023

Missed out on Coldplay and Taylor Swift concert tickets and thinking about buying from resellers? Beware.

With several concerts featuring popular international artists to be held in Singapore over the next few months, the police have observed a resurgence of a scam variant involving the sale of concert tickets.

Since January 2023, at least 462 victims have fallen prey, with total losses amounting to at least $480,000.

In this scam variant, victims would come across advertisements for concert tickets on e-commerce or social media platforms such as Carousell, Xiaohongshu, Facebook, Telegram and Twitter.

They would then approach the scammers via the individual platform's in-app messaging function, and in some cases, redirected to messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or WeChat to purchase the tickets.

When asked for proof of authenticity of the tickets, scammers would provide screenshots and videos of fake tickets or receipts.

To urge victims into making payment quickly, scammers would claim that ticket sales were time-sensitive or limited in quantity, and also promised to email or transfer the tickets to the victims' Ticketmaster account after successful payment.

Payments are usually made via virtual credits (e.g. iTunes), PayNow or bank transfers. In some cases, the scammers would also request for additional payments by citing reasons such as not receiving the payments sent by the victims

Once payments were received, scammers would delay the delivery of tickets by claiming that they were unable to transfer the tickets to the victims, and thereafter become uncontactable.

For victims who have received their tickets via email or WhatsApp, they would realise that they have been scammed when these tickets are found to be invalid on the day of the concerts or when the scammers refuse to also provide the physical tickets.

Just yesterday, Stomp reported on a woman who paid $700 to a Carousell user for a pair of Taylor Swift concert tickets. The woman realised that she had been scammed after getting blocked by the seller on Carousell and WhatsApp.

Carousell told Stomp that it has banned the user in question and the police said investigations are ongoing.

Members of the public are advised to be discerning when shopping online, especially when purchasing concert tickets from online third-party resellers, and to adopt the following precautionary measures:

1. ADD - ScamShield App and set security features (e.g. enable two-factor (2FA) or multifactor authentication for banks and set transaction limits on internet banking transactions). Do not purchase tickets from third-party resellers. Use escrow payment options that protect buyers by releasing payment to the seller only upon delivery and avoid making advance payments or direct bank transfers as this method does not offer any protection to buyers. Purchase only from authorised sellers and legitimate ticket marketplaces/resellers, such as Ticketmaster.

2. CHECK - For scam signs and with official sources. Arrange for a physical meet-up with the seller to verify the authenticity of the physical tickets prior to making payment. Bear in mind that the party you are dealing with online is a stranger.

3. TELL - Authorities, family, and friends about scams. Report the fraudulent advertisements to the social media and e-commerce platforms.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688.

Anyone with information related to such scams may call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.