A mainland Chinese student in Hong Kong lost over HK $230,000 (nearly USD 29,300) in an online ticket scam for Canto-popstar Eason Chan Yik-shun concerts earlier this year. The 24-year-old, who chose not to be named, fell for the scam on China’s social media platform Weibo, where an unknown seller claimed to have tickets for the concerts.
The victim transferred 210,000 yuan (nearly HK$230,000) from her mainland bank account to eight other mainland bank accounts for 10 tickets. However, she did not receive the tickets and was unable to contact the seller after she handed over the money. After waiting for 24 hours, she reported the incident to the police.
A police spokesman said the case was being handled as obtaining property by deception. He asked public to be vigilant when shopping on online platforms to avoid being swindled by scammers.
On its anti-scam Facebook page CyberDefender, authorities warned citizens to be wary of social media posts that claim to sell concert tickets. They termed these scammers as “problematic.”
They noted:
“Scammers are everywhere and there are many traps on posts selling concert tickets. You are likely to get speculated tickets or fake tickets or not get a ticket.Even if the seller agrees to hand over the tickets in person, it is still difficult to verify them. The most secure way to buy tickets is buying through official channels.”
The seller appeared under the name Yau Ma Tei while offering the victim the tickets. However,…
