Trip to Singapore for Taylor Swift concert turns into heartbreak for Thai influencer
Last Sunday (3 March), Thai influencer Nattarada “Chopluem” Thampaya wept at the gates of Singapore’s National Stadium after learning she was a victim of a scam involving her ticket for a Taylor Swift concert.
@chopluem โดนโกงบัตรครั้งแรกในชีวิต คือช้อค พูดไม่ออก ไม่คิดว่าจะเกิดเหตุการณ์แบบนี้ 😢 ปลื้มกับพี่ซาคือ ตั้งใจมาด้วยกันมากๆ รอวันนี้มาเกือบปีอ่ะ เพราะเพลงนี้ อยากมาร้องเพลงด้วยกัน😔 เดี๋ยวปลื้มจะมาเล่าเหตุการณ์ใหัฟังว่าเพราะอะไร คนโดนโกงเยอะมาก seat เดียวกับปลื้ม ชื่อเดียวกันด้วย
Known as Chopluem among her fans, the influencer had flown out of Bangkok that same day with her brother and seven other concertgoers, noted Khaosod English.
Her hopes of seeing the pop sensation ‘live’ were swiftly crushed after realising she received the same QR code for the same seat as eight other fans.
Thai influencer weeps after realising Taylor Swift tickets were a scam
On Monday (4 March), Chopluem took to Instagram and Tik Tok to share her disheartening experience.
Speaking in Thai, she explained the journey she took and the utter disappointment that followed.
Thai PBS World reported that Chopleum hopped on a flight from Bangkok at 3am on Sunday (3 March) to watch ‘The Eras Tour’ in Singapore that same night.
She had planned her trip and picked her outfit carefully just for the experience. Upon reaching the National Stadium, however, she and her friend encountered problems with their tickets at the gate.
The staff who scanned them told her that the QR codes had already been scanned by two concertgoers who managed to enter the venue.
They went to check the seats and found that eight other people had ‘tickets’ to the same seats, stated Thaiger. Realising the situation, staff cancelled the seats and instructed the fans who were there to leave the stadium.
Chopleum said: “This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me…I had eagerly awaited the Eras Tour for nearly a year, working hard to save money. The fraudsters were so heartless.”
Thai fans who received scam tickets bought from same seller
After her social media posts went viral, Chopleum learnt that multiple other fans had fallen victim to the same scam.
The seller in turn released a statement, declaring that they’re gathering evidence to assist with investigations.
“From the issues shared on social media, our shop is not complacent about the problem. Our team is gathering evidence to file a complaint with the police and clarify the matter to the public,” Thaiger quoted the seller as saying.
The seller added: “We assure all customers that we will compensate each of them as much as much as we can. We promise to take responsibility and will not escape from the problem.”
Police advise victims of concert ticket scams to file reports
In light of the incident, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau issued an advisory for all Thai residents who’ve become victims of ticket scams to report their cases to the Thai police.
Source: Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau on Facebook
The bureau warned that the Cyber Police does not accept reports via social media platforms, or any other website or application.
According to Khaosod, Chopluem alleged that about 120 people had fallen for the same scam and many were Thais.
Since they bought many tickets costing 20,000 baht (S$751), some fans lost nearly 4000,000 baht (S$15,024).
MS News has reached out to Chopleum for comments.
Also read: Taylor Swift fans get resale tickets 20 mins into S’pore show after learning they were scammed
Taylor Swift fans get resale tickets 20 mins into S’pore show after learning they were scammed
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Featured image adapted from @chopluem on TikTok.
