PSA: Concert FOMO? Don’t let fake tickets turn it into a no-show
The Singapore Police warn against falling victim to concert ticket scams by not buying tickets from online resellers
The Singapore Police Force has released advisories warning Singaporeans against falling prey to concert ticket scams, with the most recent coming last week for the upcoming “Jacky Cheung 60+ Concert Tour 2025 – Singapore”. This comes on the heels of another such warning made in June, over similar scams around the BLACKPINK concert at the end of November.
During the Jacky Cheung’s 60+ concert tour held in Singapore in 2023, at least 45 scam reports were made, with the total losses amounting to at least S$42,000. Victims would come across offers for the sale of concert tickets on messaging or social media platforms, such as Carousell, Xiaohongshu, Facebook, WhatsApp, and on websites like Viagogo.
According to a Straits Times report in 2024, at least 2,000 victims fell prey to concert ticket scams between January and May last year, with losses amounting to at least S$1 million, mainly to fake Taylor Swift concert tickets.
Indeed, Singapore isn’t the only country where concert ticket scams have become prevalent. In June, the Hong Kong Police Force reported that the number of reported concert ticket scams in Hong Kong was 40% higher week on week, with 114 reports of concert ticket scams for the week starting on May 24, compared with the 80 recorded over the previous week. According to the police, more than 70 cases from the second half of May were related to Mandopop stars JJ Lin and Jay Chou’s performances at Kai Tak Stadium.
How the scams works
Don’t fall prey to these online offers.
To prove their legitimacy, scammers would provide screenshots or videos of fake tickets or receipts to convince the victims that the tickets were authentic.
Scammers would also claim that ticket sales were time-sensitive or limited in quantity and promise to deliver the tickets to the victims after payment was successful.
Some of the comments you can get from scammers.
When victims did not receive their concert tickets, scammers would request additional payments by claiming that they hadn’t received the payments made by the victims.
Victims would realise that they had been scammed when the tickets were not delivered or when the ‘seller’ became uncontactable.
Getting things done right
What to note
Both the BLACKPINK and Jacky Cheung concert tickets are sold through Ticketmaster, which is the only authorised platform for the concerts.
Under Ticketmaster’s terms and conditions, concert tickets sold in Singapore cannot be transferred or resold. Those who are found to have purchased resale tickets will be turned away from the concert at the Singapore Sports Hub, with no refund.
In addition, tickets will only be released approximately seven days prior to the event, although this may vary at the discretion of the organiser. Ticketmaster will never issue tickets via email. So the public is advised to be wary of resellers claiming to be in possession of resale tickets before they are released to the public, or to be able to transfer their tickets to your Ticketmaster account after purchase, as the tickets are strictly not-transferable.
Lastly, when in doubt if something is a scam, you can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline at 1799.
Source: SPF