Police on Thursday said they had arrested 10 people in a two-day operation against the sale of fake concert tickets and related money laundering, after mule accounts linked to the cases were found to have handled more than HK$81 million in suspected crime proceeds.

The group, aged 18 to 46, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, obtaining property by deception and money laundering.

Chief Inspector Chung Man-ning said the syndicate was organised and systematic.

A day or two before an event, members would advertise tickets on social media at half price, with no deposit required and a face-to-face handover, to lower buyers’ guard.

Couriers then met victims at MTR stations on the day, even pretending to demonstrate how to check a ticket, before taking cash or transferring the funds to a mule account and then disappearing.

The online posts were deleted at once.

“Most of the victims set off for the venue immediately after the transaction. They go to the event excited and full of anticipation, but when they reached the gate and had their tickets checked, staff told them the tickets are fake and they cannot get in," she said.

"This type of scam usually happens at the very last moment before the show starts, leaving the victims caught off guard and making it hard to chase the fraudsters right away."

Senior Inspector Yiu Kong-kuen said the fake tickets seized were highly realistic and hard to spot with the naked eye during a brief handover, but the paper was rougher, the colours darker, and they had no security watermark.

Genuine tickets, he said, have smooth paper, clear printing, a reflective laser sticker at the top right, and invisible fluorescent ink on the back that appears under ultraviolet light.

Police urged the public to buy tickets only through official channels, not to trust social-media resale posts or scalpers.




Edited by Tony Sabine