SARAWAK, MALAYSIA — A man in his 50s, who works as an engineer, recently fell victim to a scam and lost RM11,500 (approximately USD 2,468) while trying to acquire tickets for Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert tour, ‘The Eras Tour’, in Singapore next year.
On last Friday (7 Jul), the organiser, AEG Presents Asia announced through a Facebook post that tickets for Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ scheduled for March 2-4 and 7-9, 2024, at the Singapore National Stadium, have all been sold.
Soon after this, scalpers have taken advantage of the high demand for Taylor Swift concert tickets, listing them on Carousell at significantly inflated prices.
Ticketmaster, the official ticketing partner for all of Swift’s Singapore shows, released a separate statement cautioning that tickets purchased from other sources cannot be guaranteed for their authenticity.
According to a media outlet in Sarawak, the Borneo Post, the incident occurred on Thursday (6 July), when the engineer came across an advertisement on the online marketplace Carousell, offering Taylor Swift concert tickets.
Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri, the Sarawak police commissioner, said in a statement that the engineer expressed interest in buying three tickets, totaling RM11,530.
“Over the course of 6 and 7 July, he made three payment transactions into the suspect’s bank account at a Kuching-based bank,” stated Mohd Azman.
Once the payments were completed, the suspect became uncontactable.
Realizing that he had been scammed, the victim promptly filed a police report seeking further action.
Another unfortunate incident of the Taylor Swift ticket scam
In another unfortunate incident involving Taylor Swift ticket scams, a 20-year-old woman from Singapore became a victim of a fraudulent scheme.
According to a report by Mothership, she lost S$700 while attempting to purchase two Taylor Swift concert tickets from a seller on Carousell.
Despite transferring the money to the seller, the woman received neither the tickets nor any further communication.
Initially, the seller listed a pair of Category 3 tickets on Carousell for S$500 each, significantly higher than the original price of S$288 for Category 3 tickets.
The woman engaged in negotiations and successfully brought the price down to S$350 per ticket, which the seller agreed to. Although initially skeptical about the purchase, the woman’s doubts were alleviated when the scammer provided a screenshot that appeared to confirm the ticket purchase.
However, immediately after the payment was made, the scammer blocked her on WhatsApp and disappeared from Carousell. Realizing that she had been scammed, the woman promptly filed a police report to take appropriate action.
In addition to these incidents, the Singapore Police Force recently released a 15-second video urging Swifties to be cautious and avoid buying Taylor Swift concert tickets from unauthorized resellers.
They encouraged fans to “calm down” and be wary of purchasing tickets from unverified sources online.
@singaporepoliceforce Be careful when buying concert tickets from online third-party resellers 👀 #taylorswift #swifttok #singaporepoliceforce #fyp #foryoupage #tiktoksg #safeguardingeveryday
Scalper marked up Taylor Swift concert ticket by up to 10 times
On Carousell, scalpers are taking advantage by reselling tickets at inflated prices, often reaching up to ten times the original value. One particular incident involved a scalper listing two VIP packages for an exorbitant price of S$10,288.
In response to these unauthorized sales, the concert organizer has issued a warning stating that tickets purchased from unofficial sources, such as online auction sites, will not grant admission.
It is important to note that the resale of tickets also renders them invalid and may result in denial of entry.
