Carousell stops selling of Taylor Swift's Singapore concert tickets to fight scams
Online marketplace Carousell has suspended all selling of tickets to Taylor Swift's Singapore Eras Tour in a bid to end scams.
The halt to the reselling began on Feb. 23 and will last until Mar. 9 on the platform in countries Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan. Meanwhile, existing listings for the tickets will be removed on Feb. 26.
"While a vast majority of ticket listings are from genuine sellers, given the unique case of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, Carousell has made the one-off exception to adopt this approach, and apologizes for the inconvenience caused," the company said.
Carousell's chief of staff Su Lin Tan added that this move was done to protect concertgoers who may not be as aware of local scam tactics.
"Additionally, we realize that the two weeks leading up to the Eras Tour shows are prime for scammers taking advantage of last-minute panic buying of concert tickets," she continued.
To detect listings for the show, the platform will use AI detection and manual moderation, and Carousell is also encouraging users to report anyone selling tickets if they see any postings.
In Singapore, ticket-selling scams have seen a resurgence with some 1,534 victims losing about $1.1 million (~P45 million) from January 2023 to January 2024.
Other measures Carousell suggested to vet scam tickets include arranging for physical meet-ups to verify the authenticity of tickets before making any payment.
Swift's Singapore show is sold out and will take place from Mar. 2 to 9 at the country's National Stadium, the Midnights singer's only stop in Southeast Asia.