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Online Concert Ticket Purchases May Lead to Scams
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Popular Concert tickets are often in high demand and hard to come by. Scam groups posing as sellers on social media platforms claim to offer “PR tickets” at discounted prices. These claims are used to lure individuals into investing money, but in reality, it's a form of fraud and money laundering.
Last month (July), South Korean star GD returned to Taiwan for a concert. A woman surnamed Lin from central Taiwan saw someone selling PR tickets for the GD concert on Threads and privately messaged the seller to inquire about the price. The seller offered one ticket for NT$25,000 — significantly higher than the official VVIP price of NT$8,980. Lin found the price too high, so the seller proposed an alternative: she could transfer money to help “invest” in buying tickets and earn a profit margin. The seller claimed each ticket cost NT$20,000 and could be resold for a NT$5,000 profit. He said a client was looking for five tickets, and Lin could earn a profit and receive a free ticket to the July 13 concert. The seller promised to return her advance payment later.
Eager to see GD up close in the GA floor section, Lin agreed to transfer NT$100,000 to the seller to assist in purchasing and reselling the tickets. However, when the promised repayment date arrived, the seller had vanished without a trace, leaving Lin with no way to recover her money.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) emphasized that concert tickets should be purchased through official ticketing platforms. Buying from individuals on social media carries risks since their identities cannot be verified, and once a problem occurs, it's difficult to trace or recover the funds. Another common scam tactic involves directing buyers to use third-party payment or shopping platforms such as ECPay, FamiStore, or 7-ELEVEN MyShip, and then sending fake official links to phish for account or identity verification. Victims are then asked to transfer money to unknown accounts under the pretense of verification. Once the money is transferred, it cannot be recovered.
We urge the public to beware of scams that require advance payments when buying tickets online. Do not click suspicious links sent by strangers, and never agree to make multiple transfers. Otherwise, you may not only become a victim of fraud but also unknowingly participate in money laundering. If anything seems suspicious during the ticket purchase process, stop transferring money and call the Anti-Fraud Hotline at 165 for assistance.Source from : National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior
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