Teen admits cheating 3 victims of $1,540 by claiming to sell Taylor Swift concert tickets

SINGAPORE - A teenage boy was out on bail for offences including theft when he cheated three victims of $1,540 in total by claiming that he had tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour for sale.

One of the victims was an 18-year-old girl, who received false concert tickets which she later presented at the National Stadium, where

the American pop superstar’s concerts were held.

She was denied entry after a machine there indicated that her four tickets were fake.

On May 28, the scammer, who turned 18 last week, pleaded guilty to six charges for offences including two counts of cheating involving $820 and theft.

Nine other charges, including a third cheating charge linked to another $720, will be considered during sentencing.

He cannot be named as he was 17 years old when he cheated the trio.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng said that in 2023, he acquired two tickets to Swift’s March 9, 2024, show.

The boy, who wanted to earn some cash, then made a listing on online marketplace Carousell, claiming to sell four tickets for the show at $360 each.

The girl’s father saw the listing and contacted him. On Jan 26, 2024, he met the scammer in Tiong Bahru and gave him $720 cash for two tickets.

DPP Heng told the court: “The accused informed the victim’s father that the accused would only receive the tickets two weeks before March 8, and the accused would send the tickets in soft copy via WhatsApp and e-mail.”

The father later told his daughter that he had bought tickets for the concert. The girl then wanted to buy two more tickets.

She contacted the scammer and met him on Feb 26 in Tiong Bahru, where she handed him another $720. He told her that he would send her the tickets via WhatsApp and e-mail.

The girl lodged a police report when she did not receive the tickets.

She later told the scammer that she had alerted the authorities, and he decided to make false tickets by altering the dates on his actual ones from March 9 to March 8.

On Feb 28, he sent her a fake ticket via platforms including WhatsApp and told her that the ticket purportedly represented all four seats that she and her father had bought.

The girl then told the police that she wanted to withdraw her report, only to find out later that she had been cheated.

The third victim, a 20-year-old girl, had contacted the scammer as she wanted to buy two tickets to Swift’s show.

She paid him $100 as deposit on March 9, but he immediately blocked her on messaging platform Telegram after he received the money. He has not made any restitution to the trio.

Separately, the scammer also committed other offences including theft.

Among other things, he stole a speaker worth $149 from a shop in Raffles Boulevard on Nov 13, 2023, and was arrested five days later.

He continued committing more offences after he was released on bail on Nov 19, 2023.

The boy will be sentenced on July 9.