YouTube star Jinnyboy falls for Jay Chou concert ticket scam in Malaysia

Jinnyboy, a founder of the JinnyBoyTV YouTube channel, said concert organisers should educate fans on what to look out for when buying tickets to their events.

PHOTO: THE STAR / ASIA NEWS NETWORK

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR /ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Social media star Jinnyboy has urged people to be careful of online concert ticket scams after he forked out RM1,500 ($507) for two fake tickets to Jay Chou's concert in Malaysia on Saturday (Jan 27).

Jinnyboy, a founder of the JinnyBoyTV YouTube channel, highlighted his experience on Facebook and received several hundred reactions and almost 200 shares from fans by Sunday afternoon, with some also claiming to have been duped.

"For me, it is not about the money but the fact that this thing is (happening) so often.

"To be honest, I have been in the entertainment industry for so long and aware of such things, but never thought it could happen to me," he told The Star.

He said his wife was keen to catch the concert and her friend put out feelers for tickets online.

"Someone contacted my wife's friend saying he had two tickets which he wanted to sell as he had just broken up with his girlfriend and wasn't interested in going anymore.

"On Jan 5, a guy showed up at our home at about 10.30pm saying he was asked to deliver the tickets to us at a cost of RM1,500," he said, adding that he paid for the tickets, which his wife then kept.

However, Jinnyboy said he was shocked when he and his wife were stopped by gatekeepers at Stadium Merdeka on Saturday.

"We were told the tickets were fake as they were missing the security watermark, visible only under ultraviolet light.

"We weren't the only ones as I saw a couple in their 50s stopped for a similar reason," he added.

Jinnyboy said he decided to post his experience on Facebook as a lesson to others, that anyone can get duped online.

"I know I won't be able to get my money back as it would be very difficult to trace the culprit," he said, adding that he did not lodge a police report.

In his Facebook post, he uploaded a photograph of the tickets which had the name of the "original ticket holder".

Jinnyboy said concert organisers should educate fans on what to look out for when buying tickets to their events.

"It is in the best interest of the organisers and fans that there is a better system, and (a way to) educate the public as to what fake tickets really look like," he said.

Attempts to contact the concert organisers in Singapore were unsuccessful.

On Thursday, The Star published a front-page report warning Jacky Cheung fans - who had bought tickets at high prices from unauthorised channels for his concerts in Kuala Lumpur - that they could be barred from the venue.

In March, three men in their early 20s were sentenced to probation and 120 hours of community service each by Singapore courts for selling fake Jay Chou concert tickets.

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