Investigation into second-hand performance ticket trading scam: Why is the platform’s payment link fake? Are third-party accounts not insured?

Recently, ticketing information for several upcoming concerts in Shanghai has been on the hot search list. Many fans posted screenshots of their successful tickets, but fans who were "slow" expressed regret and unwillingness. At the same time, there is more information about “ticket transfer” on social platforms and second-hand trading platforms.

An investigation by the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform found that the credibility of much of the transfer information was not high. Some scammers pretend to be staff of regular ticket purchasing platforms to defraud, while others take advantage of the public's trust in third-party payment platforms to create traps. Due to the high price of tickets, many netizens suffered heavy losses.

"The other party was absolutely sure that I would use my own account to place the order. I would receive a text message notification and the tickets would also appear in my account." Xiao Qi, the consumer, was suspicious of a detail and ultimately did not fall into the trap of fake tickets. " After I received the text message "Tickets have been reserved, please pay as soon as possible", the other party sent me a QR code claiming to be an "in-platform purchase financial account" and asked me to make payment. How can I prove that this QR code belongs to the platform's finance? ?”

After searching relevant posts on social platforms, Xiao Qi was convinced that the other party was a liar: once he transferred money to this account, the other party could immediately get the ticket payment and then disappear; as for the "tickets have been reserved" text message notification he had received previously, there was a high probability that It was sent by a scammer pretending to be a legitimate ticketing platform.

Xiao Qi's judgment was correct. The Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform has noticed that many fans have been deceived by the so-called "buy within the ticketing platform" routine, costing them thousands of dollars at least and tens of thousands of dollars at most. Sorting out related scams, the routines are almost exactly the same——

The scammer first uses "my account to place an order on the official ticketing platform, and there will be a text message notification, and you can check the tickets on the official website" to make the victim relax;

Then use a fake “booking success notification” to gain trust;

Then ask for payment, and the payment method is not limited to the "financial account purchased within the ticketing platform" QR code, the payment page of the fake ticketing platform, etc.;

After the victim paid, the scammer lost contact and the victim lost both money and money.

During the whole process, some scammers will also use "ID cards" and "work permits" to prove that they are working on a regular ticketing platform. But don’t forget that these documents may be fake, and the authenticity cannot be determined based on photos alone.

The Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform noticed that among this type of scam, “DaMai internal buying” appears most frequently. But in fact, Damai clarified through its official Weibo as early as June this year: "There is no internal ticket purchase channel; customer service will not contact users through external chat tools such as QQ, Xianyu, WeChat, etc.; any request by Damai or Damai employees Anyone who transfers money privately is a scammer."

Some netizens also asked that some "second-hand ticket sellers" claim that they can put the ticket payment in a third-party account and then confirm receipt after successfully watching the show. Is this kind of transaction safer?

Facts have proved that "putting ticket money in a third-party account" is not safe either. Scammers use "third-party accounts" as a cover-up, and use words to induce victims step by step to voluntarily give up their third-party accounts, choose direct transfers or external chain transactions, and eventually fall into the trap.

Consumer Jin Jing communicated with a seller who claimed to have tickets through Xianyu to transfer tickets to a certain concert. The other party said that he could pay for the tickets through Xianyu. The ticket payment was temporarily stored in the Alipay account associated with Xianyu. After watching the performance, Jin Jing confirmed Only after receiving the goods can he receive the ticket payment. "Listening to what he said, I don't think there is any risk. If you can't watch the show, just ask the platform to intervene, and you can still get the money back." Jin Jing then placed an order on Xianyu Pay. Unexpectedly, the routine had just begun.

The other party said that Jin Jing did not note the name, show number and other ticket information when paying. Due to the large number of orders, it was unclear which customer paid the ticket, so the ticket could not be issued.

Immediately afterwards, the other party said that the tickets were popular and that other customers had paid and placed orders at the same time, so the tickets Jin Jing wanted were "no longer available" and provided screenshots of other people's orders.

When Jin Jing asked if they could coordinate, the other party said that they could "snatch" the tickets back through bank transfer. Because other people's ticket payments were also in third-party accounts, there was a chance of "first come, first served" through bank transfer.

At this time, Jin Jing had already used Xianyu's "refund" service to get back the money he had paid for the ticket. "I felt that the other party was quite honest and the money was returned, so I made a direct bank transfer according to his request. Unexpectedly , and I couldn’t contact him again.”

It can be seen that scammers use "third-party payment platforms" just to defraud victims' trust. Their goal is not the ticket payment in the third-party payment platform, but to use reasons such as "recognition failure", "unclear labeling" and "payment not received". , ultimately inducing the victim to leave the third-party payment platform transaction.

Are the payment links of “regular platforms” reliable?

A professional ticketing company provided the Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform with another fraud method it has recently monitored: forging formal platform payment links. This method is not only highly concealed, but may also appear in different traps.

Specifically, the scammers forged the official ticket purchase website and payment link. For example, scammers will generate fake Xianyu sharing pictures. The QR code in the picture itself is fake, and it may be difficult for ordinary people to distinguish it. For another example, scammers imitate the pages of different platforms, such as Xianyu, JD.com, Damai, etc., create fake websites and links, and wait for victims to click in and fill in identity information, bank card information and other private information.

Scammers use these fake websites or fake links to solicit business through social platforms, etc. If someone takes the bait, they will publish fake pages and links to directly defraud money; or they may "embed" these fake websites and fake links in other traps. , to deceive the victim. For example, in the "in-app purchase" scam, when a consumer's payment through a third-party payment platform "fails", the scammer sends these links, saying that they can quickly jump to the formal payment page to improve payment efficiency. Many fans believe that payment on the platform is safe and secure, and they do not doubt it, but what they do not want to enter is a phishing website.

This scam is not over yet, and there will be more tricks in the future: after the victim pays, some links will display "There is a risk in the UnionPay account, and you need to apply to UnionPay staff to cancel the abnormal order", etc. The scammer will pretend to work in the bank again. personnel to defraud more money...

The Shanghai Rumor Refuting Platform learned that when it comes to performance ticket transactions, formal enterprises should at least have business licenses, performance business licenses and other business qualifications. Consumers can ask the other party to provide relevant documents for verification before making a transaction. At the same time, when choosing services, try to use third-party payment accounts and platforms with after-sales services instead of websites, mini-programs, WeChat stores and other channels provided by traders themselves. During the transaction process, be sure to use the various services provided by the platform, be wary of various shared links, and do not purchase or trade goods through link jumps.