Man allegedly scams Swifties, sneaks them into concert
A man accused of helping three other people sneak into a performance of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour on March 4 without tickets was handed a cheating charge on March 20.
Yang Chenguang, 29, a Chinese national, is now said to have deceived one Yang Junhao, 23, into believing that the latter was buying three genuine VIP Eras Tour tickets on March 4.
According to court documents, Yang Chenguang allegedly did not have the tickets in his possession.
Despite this, he allegedly asked the younger man to make a payment of 12,000 yuan (S$2,270) to an Alipay user known only as “Xue Mei” for the tickets.
On March 4, Yang Chenguang and another Chinese national, Li Xiaowei, 45, allegedly entered a security check area at the Singapore Sports Hub to dupe security officers inside the National Stadium into believing that three other people had valid Eras Tour tickets.
As a result, the officers allegedly allowed the trio to enter the stadium.
Two days later, Yang Chenguang and Li were each charged with one count of cheating. These charges were later amended to that of criminal trespass.
According to court documents, the three people who allegedly entered the stadium are Hu Zhijun, 21; Yang Junhao; and Shangguan Linmo, 25.
Li is expected to plead guilty on March 22, while Yang Chenguang’s pre-trial conference will take place on March 26.
The police had said that between Jan 1 and March 12, at least 1,551 victims had fallen prey to e-commerce scams involving concert tickets, with total losses amounting to at least $737,000.
At least 960 of these victims had fallen for scams involving tickets to Swift’s concerts, and more than $538,000 was lost.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Aileen Yap had earlier told The Straits Times that most of the e-commerce scam victims who made reports relating to tickets to Swift’s concerts were women aged 30 and below.
The American pop superstar’s opening show in Singapore, her only stop in South-east Asia, was held on March 2.
Swift was the first female act to headline six shows at the National Stadium, and more than 368,000 people had streamed through the doors over the week of concerts.
Her final performance was held on March 9.
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