Ahead of several concerts that will take place in the second half of this year, including those by popular South Korean bands Winner and iKON, the police have issued an advisory to fans planning to buy tickets.

There were at least 120 reports of online purchase scams that involved concert tickets last year, said the Singapore Police Force yesterday. Some victims received fake or invalid tickets while others did not receive any tickets at all.

Yesterday, The New Paper reported that a scammer had cheated several fans of home-grown Mandopop singer JJ Lin out of at least $2,000 in total.

The victims thought they were buying tickets for the singer's sold-out concert but received empty envelopes or blank sheets of paper instead. The seller had approached the victims on Facebook, offering to sell tickets at low prices, and collected money through the PayNow app.

The police advised the public to be wary of online advertisements that sound too good to be true, to avoid being impulsive, and to purchase tickets from authorised sellers. Some scammers may also use local bank accounts or provide copies of what they claim to be their identity cards or driving licences. This does not necessarily mean that they are genuine sellers, the police said.

The police also reminded the public to avoid making payments or deposits in advance and to try to use platforms that release payment to the seller only after the buyer has received the item.

Alternatively, buyers can also arrange to meet the seller in person and contact the official ticket sellers, such as Sistic or Singapore Sports Hub, to check the validity of the tickets before making payment.