How to spot a concert ticket scam before you pay

When a show sells out in minutes, a second market appears within the hour. Some resellers are fans who can't make it anymore. Many are not. Here's how to tell the difference before money leaves your account.

Warning signs

The price is far below face value. Sold-out tickets don't get cheaper. A seller offering half price is offering bait.

They want a bank transfer, right now. Pressure is the main tool: "three other people are asking", "this is the last one". An honest seller can wait ten minutes while you check.

They ask for a down payment or an extra fee. A deposit to "hold" the ticket, a "name change fee", an "admin fee" for a giveaway you supposedly won. Each one is another reason to send more money.

The proof is a screenshot. A screenshot of an e-ticket or QR code proves nothing. The same image can be sold to ten people, and only the first person to scan it gets in.

The account is new, or pretending to be someone else. Few posts, few followers, comments switched off, or a username one letter away from the official account.

The link isn't the official ticketing site. Fake ticket pages copy the real design and ask for your login or card details. Type the official address yourself instead of tapping a link you were sent.

They refuse every payment method that protects you. That tells you everything you need to know.

Safer ways to buy resale

• Check whether the promoter runs an official resale or name-transfer system. If it does, use only that. It's the one route where the ticket is reissued in your name.
• If you buy from a person, pay through a well-known escrow service (rekening bersama) or a marketplace that holds the money until you receive the ticket.
• Ask the seller to transfer the ticket to your name through the official system, or to meet you at the redemption point and swap there.
• Search the seller's phone number and bank account number online. Scammers reuse them, and earlier victims often post them.

If you've been scammed

1. Stop paying. Scammers often come back with a second fee to "release" the ticket.
2. Save everything: the chat, the account number, the transfer receipt, the profile link.
3. Call your bank straight away with the receiving account number and ask them to report it. The sooner you report, the better.
4. Report the account to the platform where you found the seller, and to the police with your evidence.
5. Warn others. Sharing the scammer's account details (never your own personal data) helps the next person.

The short version: buy from the official partner, treat screenshots as worthless, and never pay someone who is rushing you. If this is your first show, start with our first concert guide.