Singapore sees huge surge in concert ticket scams

Singapore has seen a massive uptick in concert ticket scams, with reports that consumers have lost at least S$518,000 (€352,000) in the first half of 2023.

This amount is more than 50% higher than in the past five years combined, with S$84,000 lost in 2018; S$66,000 in 2019; S$9,000 in 2020; S$3,000 in 2021; S$175,000 in 2022.

These figures were reported by the minister for home affairs and law (MHA), K. Shanmugam, in response to a question by a member of parliament about the financial toll of such scams over the past five years.

The amount lost in the first half of 2023 is more than 50% higher than in the past five years combined

According to Shanmugam, the MHA is taking a “multi-faceted approach” to deal with scams, including the blocking of scam content, enhancing safeguards on digital platforms and public education.

He added that the police are working closely with social media and e-commerce platforms to remove scam advertisements for concert tickets, as well as accounts involved in such scams, as soon as these are detected.

In July, MHA passed the Online Criminal Harms Act, which will allow the government to order online platforms to disable online criminal content and activities, including scams.

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