SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): At least $11,000 has been lost in scams during the week that tickets for K-pop superstars BTS’ Singapore leg of their concert tour went on sale on June 3.
The police said on June 6 that there have been at least 14 scam cases linked to the sale of the concert tickets since June 1.
The South Korean septet – comprising RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook – will perform in Singapore on Dec 17, 19, 20 and 22 as part of their Arirang world tour.
All tickets for the Singapore leg of the tour have been sold, with online travel platform Klook becoming the final sales channel to exhaust its allocation on June 6.
The police said that scammers approached victims mainly through social media platform X.
Victims responded to advertisements or listings of concert tickets for sale on online platforms such as X, Instagram and Carousell, added the police.
To make a purchase, they were instructed to pay via PayNow or by scan a PayNow QR code.
After the initial payment, the scammers would ask the victims to make additional payments for reasons such as administrative fees.
Victims realised they had been scammed only when they did not receive the tickets.
The police urged members of the public to buy concert tickets only from authorised platforms such as Ticketmaster.
The public also should be wary of resellers claiming to be able to transfer their tickets to another Ticketmaster account after purchase as the tickets are strictly not transferable.
The police said they are working closely with X to take down fraudulent accounts that offer resale tickets for the BTS shows here.
It has also requested Carousell to remove resale concert ticket listings.
In line with policies under Meta, Facebook Marketplace does not allow content that promotes the buying, selling or trading of event tickets.
TikTok shop’s policies do not support the sales of concert tickets, police added.
They advise the public to download the ScamShield app to protect themselves against scams. The public can also report fraudulent advertisements to the social media and e-commerce platforms.
To learn how to stay safe from scams, go to www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield helpline on 1799. -- The Straits Times/ANN
