334 victims lose $213,000 to Swift concert ticket scams
At least 334 victims have succumbed to scams involving the sale of concert tickets in January and February, with losses amounting to a staggering $213,000, specifically from scams related to Taylor Swift concerts.
The police issued a statement on March 1, highlighting the alarming trend of concert ticket frauds that have been plaguing online platforms.
Scammers have been exploiting fans’ eagerness to attend Taylor Swift’s concerts, which begin in Singapore on March 2.
The fraudsters typically post listings for tickets on platforms such as Telegram, X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook and Xiaohongshu, before moving conversations to private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and WeChat to finalise the fraudulent transactions.
Victims are often instructed to make payments via PayNow, bank transfers, or with virtual credits such as iTunes cards.
The realisation that they have been scammed comes too late, either when the tickets are not delivered, the seller becomes unreachable, or, for those who do receive tickets, when they are turned away at the venue due to invalid tickets.
In response to these incidents, the police have reminded the public to exercise caution when purchasing concert tickets.
They advise against buying from third-party resellers and recommend using authorised sellers and legitimate ticket marketplaces that offer ticket verification and guaranteed refunds for invalid tickets.
The police also encourage the public to adopt precautionary measures such as using the ScamShield app, setting security features on banking transactions, and verifying the authenticity of tickets with official sources.
Members of the public who have information on such scams or are in doubt are urged to contact the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit information online at the official police website.
For urgent assistance, the public should dial 999. The police also suggest visiting scamalert.sg or calling the Anti-Scam Helpline for more information on scams.
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