By RK Shih / Staff
KAOHSIUNG – Police reports show online ticket fraud surged during the city’s booming concert season, with scammers targeting fans seeking high-demand seats for BLACKPINK and TWICE shows.
According to the National Police Agency’s 165 Anti-Fraud Dashboard (165 反詐儀錶板), Taiwan recorded an average of 450 scam reports per day in November, with losses of nearly NT$200 million.
Online shopping scams accounted for 29.9 percent of all cases, the highest share of any category. In terms of money lost, however, fake-investment schemes still dominate, accounting for 42 percent of total damages, followed by romance-investment scams at 23 percent and impersonation-police scams at 11 percent.
Police said online shopping scams have become the most common entry point for victims. Losses per case tend to be small, but the volume is so large that the overall impact is significant.
Concert-ticket fraud rising fast
Investigators report a sharp increase in schemes linked to major concerts in Kaohsiung. Fraud groups are posting fake ticket-resale offers for BLACKPINK, TWICE, and other sold-out events. After attracting buyers through Facebook groups or social-media posts, scammers push fans to private channels like Messenger, LINE, or Instagram.
They then use pressure tactics such as “someone else is about to buy it”, “deposit must be paid today”, or “QR code will be released five days before the show”. Once buyers transfer money, the seller disappears.
Police noted similar tactics against sellers. Scammers posing as buyers claim they cannot complete the purchase and send forged customer-service links. Victims are directed to fake logistics or e-commerce pages and told to enter banking information for “verification” or “payment unlocking”. Some are instructed to mail their ATM cards to a designated address, resulting in accounts being drained or used for money laundering.
New fronts: fake part-time jobs
Fraud groups are also luring young people with part-time job ads or offers, asking them to provide bank accounts, ATM cards, or phone numbers. Some victims unknowingly register multiple phone lines and send the SIM cards to the fraud ring. Many only realize what happened when they are later investigated as money-laundering accomplices.
Police reiterated that official platforms will never ask users to leave the site for payment or verification, and urged the public to verify suspicious claims with the 165 Anti-Fraud Hotline before transferring money.
