Trapping into Halloween ticket scam is even scarier than “ghosts” and “scary pumpkins”. Stay safe and follow these tips to outwit a scammer selling fake tickets.
Looking to buy online tickets to Halloween event in your neighborhood or at Universal Studio Singapore?
If so, you must be alert.
This is because online Halloween ticket scams are making headlines these days in Singapore.
Recently, Singapore police held 10 teenagers for selling fake USS Horror event tickets online. These investigations have been made on the basis of the complaints lodged by the victims from August to October. Most of these victims reported that they discovered that the tickets were fake after they were denied entry to the events.
There have been at least 35 incidents of Halloween ticket scam reported so far. Victims were asked for advanced payments in deposit or as COD by tricksters. However after getting the payments, these scam artists didn’t deliver the tickets to the victims or gave fake tickets to them. Most of these scams were operated on online marketplace like Carousell and Facebook.
Read Also: 10 Mistakes That Make Your Ecommerce Website a Hacker’s Target
So, you should be careful while purchasing online Halloween tickets in Singapore. Be alert and avoid getting into the trap of such scam with the measures given below.
Tips to Avoid Halloween Ticket Scams
Avoid Emails or Notifications Promising Free Halloween Tickets:
It is common to have your email account teemed with promotional emails related to Halloween these days. Many of these emails may be claiming to give you free tickets to Halloween. Here you need to be careful as it may be a scam, especially if it is hard to get Halloween tickets due to the rush.
Such luring emails are designed to trick you into first spamming your email contacts with same fake offers and then sourcing your personal information to other scam websites if they don’t ask you for some payment.
Alert When You Get Hard-to-Get Tickets Easily at the Last Moment:
Getting tickets for Halloween is not easy during a peak period. Either you have to pay extra or seek some “other ways” to get the tickets to Halloween event. So, it is obvious that you consider yourself lucky on getting tickets at the very last moment.
But have ever thought there may be something wrong at the bottom?
Don’t be moved by the euphoria of getting tickets easily. Instead, be extra cautious and figure out the reality. How? The next two points will help you.
Don’t Take Decision in Haste:
A scam artist is likely to insist you to get the tickets as soon as possible, learning that you are “desperately” seeking them. For example, he may convince you like this—I’ve got 5 tickets now. Hurry up or else you won’t get any of them.
If an online stranger is acting like this, then take it as a warning sign that you might be getting trapped.
Meet the Person in “Real” If Possible:
See if an online ticket seller can meet you in person. Though it may not seem feasible piece of advice for many readers out there, it will help you avoid the possible scam. Meet the person, see the tickets and make the transaction only if you find everything alright. You can bring a friend with you for added protection.
Use Secure Payment Method:
No matter how genuine an online ticket seller sounds, make sure to pay via secure payment method like PayPal. Besides being a secure platform, PayPal returns the refund along with shipping costs if its listed vendor doesn’t provide promised services or turns out to be fake. Make sure to report the problem within 45 days.
If a seller asks you to transfer money via Western Union or MoneyGram, the seller is likely to be a scammer. If the payment is done through a coupon website, find out how the online site safeguards customer’s interest in case of poor services.
Don’t Pay Upfront for a Promise:
A scam artist may ask you to pay upfront for the things like charity, credit and loan offers or other lures. For examples, he may promise you a prize on paying some amount before the purchase. In this way, they will take the money and will never appear.
So, you must have understood how to avoid getting into Halloween ticket scam. The simple solution is that you shouldn’t pay until you get the real tickets.
