SINGAPORE – A total of 25 men and 20 women are under police probe for their suspected involvement in concert ticket scams that have cost victims here $571,000 since January.
The suspects, aged between 17 and 57, were rounded up in a nine-day operation between Feb 26 and March 5, the police said in a statement on March 7.
Just over two months into 2024, at least 1,241 victims have been duped in concert ticket scams, most of them involving American pop star Taylor Swift’s sold-out six-night run at the National Stadium in March, the police added.
Victims came across listings of concert tickets for sale on diverse platforms, including Telegram, X, Facebook, Carousell and Xiaohongshu.
After the victims made contact, the scammers would move the chat to messaging apps like WhatsApp and WeChat, then instruct victims to make payment for their “tickets” through PayNow, bank transfers or virtual credits, such as iTunes cards.
Victims realised they had been swindled when scammers did not deliver the tickets, were unable to show any proof of authenticity for the tickets sent, or became uncontactable. Some victims received fake tickets that were later rejected at the concert venues.
After popular online marketplace Carousell suspended the sale of concert tickets for the length of Swift’s stay in Singapore until March 9, scammers pivoted to encrypted messaging app Telegram to entice victims, said the police.
In preliminary investigations, the police found that the suspects had either given scammers control of their bank accounts or had their credentials phished after applying for fake trading accounts, jobs or loan schemes.
One suspect had received and transferred money for scammers through his bank account for a commission of as high as $60 a transaction.
The offence of handing over banking details to criminals is punishable with a fine of up to $5,000, jail time of up to two years, or both.
Members of the public with information on such scams should call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at police.gov.sg/iwitness
They can also visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Helpline on 1800-722-6688.
