A 29-year-old woman was charged with cheating on Tuesday (March 12) after allegedly scamming people with Taylor Swift concert tickets on online marketplace Carousell. According to court documents, Foo Mei Qi purportedly cheated a woman of S$350 on Sept 13 last year.
Foo allegedly lied that she was selling tickets for Swift’s The Eras Tour concert on March 2. Dressed in a red shirt with a picture of a lucky cat, she attended court via video-link. She is remanded for further investigation, and will return to court on March 19.
For cheating, Foo faces jail for up to 10 years and a fine. The police said in a statement on Monday night that they received several reports between March 3 and 7 from victims who were purportedly cheated by an online seller advertising the sale of the concert tickets on the online site.
Upon receiving the victims’ payments via PayNow or bank transfer, the woman failed to deliver the concert tickets and could not be contacted. Officers from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division established the identity of the woman through follow-up investigations and arrested her later.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that she is believed to be involved in other similar reports with losses amounting to more than S$24,000,” they added. On March 1, the police said that at least 334 people fell victim to scams involving Taylor Swift concert tickets in January and February, with total losses amounting to at least S$213,000.
Last month, Carousell suspended the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets, because there was a rise in ticket scams in the lead-up to her shows globally.
“Scammers may entice buyers to contact them directly through messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or WeChat by offering a better or faster deal if bank transfer payments are made directly to them,” said the police. “They may also use a local bank account or provide a copy of a NRIC/driver’s licence to make you believe that they are genuine sellers.”