Two men and three women from the mainland have recently fallen victim to different concert ticket scams, separately losing a total of 24,616 yuan (27,216 patacas), with the highest loss of 12,000 yuan, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a regular press conference yesterday.
In the first case, a young man saw someone selling tickets online for a May concert in Beijing. He agreed to buy one ticket for 880 yuan, but the seller later requested an additional 500 yuan in fees, raising the total to 1,380 yuan. After transferring the money, he received a fake electronic ticket, and the seller claimed that there was an “identity error” and required him to repurchase the ticket, trying to scam him out of another 1,360 yuan. The victim refused to give the scammer additional money. Later he was unable to contact the seller and realised he had been defrauded of 1,380 yuan.
The second case involved another young man who purchased two tickets, also for a concert in Beijing, for a total of 4,260 yuan. He initially paid a 100 yuan deposit and later transferred the remaining balance. The seller promised to deliver the tickets onsite, but on the concert day, he did not see the seller. When the victim called the seller, he or she claimed that a “refund process” was required and requested an additional 13,999 yuan, which the victim refused to pay. The seller went offline afterwards, resulting in a total loss of 4,260 yuan.
In the third case, a young woman found tickets sold at 2,500 yuan each while searching on Weibo for a local concert on May 10. The seller requested a deposit of 660 yuan, promising to deliver the tickets onsite. When the victim arrived at the venue, she called the seller who claimed that she needed to pay an additional 1,450 yuan to receive the tickets. After transferring the money, the victim still did not see the seller. The seller then asked for another 500 yuan, but in the end, she received no tickets, and the seller vanished offline. The total loss amounted to 2,610 yuan.
The fourth case involved another young woman who saw someone selling “front-row tickets” online for a local concert on May 11 at a price of 7,000 yuan. After transferring the money, the seller claimed that there were no front-row tickets available and requested an additional 5,000 yuan for second-row tickets, promising a refund for the front-row tickets later. The victim paid the extra 5,000 yuan, but did not receive any tickets, and the seller disappeared. Her total loss was 12,000 yuan.
Lastly, a young woman paid 2,000 yuan for tickets through Rednote, a social media app, but also did not receive them, with the seller disappearing.
Leng noted that the victims reported their cases to the police between May 8 and May 11, resulting in a total loss of 24,616 yuan, with the largest individual loss amounting to 12,000 yuan.
Leng did not elaborate on whether the tickets for the Beijing and Macau concerts were for the same shows.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
