KUALA LUMPUR – Indonesian police have caught two individuals involved in a deposit service ticketing scam for Grammy-winning band Coldplay’s upcoming concert in Jakarta.
Metro Jaya police’s Criminal Investigation Unit director Aulainsyah Lubis said the two culprits were operating under a now-defunct Twitter account named @fintrove_id, which they bought over for their scam due to its high follower count.
The male perpetrator was only named by the initials ABF, while his female counterpart was disclosed as W.
The two were apprehended in Yogyakarta following reports from about 60 victims, who lost about Rp257 million (RM78,612).
“We conducted investigations and arrested two individuals committing fraud involving (Coldplay) ticket sales,” Auliansyah was quoted as saying by CNN Indonesia at the police headquarters in Jakarta today.
“They set up the website as if it had sold various concert tickets prior to this, and were successful.”
Auliansyah added that the culprits also deliberately wrote comments under the website so it seemed authentic and attracted users on Twitter.
Subsequently, they forced victims to pay a deposit of Rp50,000 to avoid them from “running away”, and warned that the tickets will no longer be available if they fail to pay the amount.
The warning was shared in a WhatsApp group, and the admin went under the phone number 085219410867.
Auliansyah also said the perpetrators purchased a separate bank account to mask their identities. After receiving the banked-in cash, they would transfer the amounts to their original accounts.
Previously, a scam incident involving Coldplay tickets was reported, where a Twitter user under the username @imyourpuduu shared that their friend was scammed of Rp1.2 million (RM366) by a similar-sounding account, @findtrove_id.
They added that the perpetrators kept communications with the friend prior to receiving payment, and were immediately uncontactable once it was made. – The Vibes, May 22, 2023
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