The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and consumer watchdog Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) have recently warned fans of the need to exercise caution when buying concert tickets. These advisories come just as fans of K-pop superstars BTS are heading into the presale sessions for the septet's upcoming Arirang concert in Singapore.CASE president Melvin Yong cautioned fans to "only purchase tickets through official and authorised ticketing channels" and to be wary of third-party sellers, especially those who request for advance payment.He added that ticket service providers may also void tickets that have been resold."Purchasing tickets from unauthorised sources may therefore expose consumers not only to the risk of scams, but also the possibility of being denied entry to the event," he wrote."As demand for major concert events continues to grow, CASE and the Consumer Protection Review Panel, which I co-chair, remain committed to working with industry stakeholders to strengthen consumer protection in the ticketing ecosystem and improve safeguards against ticket scams."
Similarly, SPF outlined a common method used by scammers, which includes sending screenshots or videos of fake tickets or receipts to victims and rushing them into paying, claiming that they did not receive any payment from the victims, and then becoming uncontactable.As such, SPF urged fans to only buy tickets from authorised channels like Ticketmaster, adding that Ticketmaster’s terms and conditions prohibit the transfer or resale of tickets and anyone found using resale tickets may be denied entry without a refund.SPF also added that it has reached out to resale platform Carousell to remove ticket listings for the upcoming Arirang concert.
