In a bid to deter the easily scammed from being parted with their money, the Singapore police has issued a pre-emptive strike.

The police is warning the public not to buy concert tickets from dubious sources sold online to avoid being scammed.

The police issued this warning ahead of high-profile gigs in Singapore in the next six months.

Confirmed acts here include Maroon 5, Sam Smith and Mariah Carey.

Hundreds of scams in 2017

The police said it has received at least 120 reports of such scams in 2017.

The victims either did not receive the tickets or received fake or invalid tickets after payments were made.

Advice for public

Advertisements that list concert tickets at cheap prices that sound too good to be true are suspect.

The seller's reviews should be checked out thoroughly before making a purchase.

However, there are no foolproof solutions.

Scammers are known to use a local bank account or provide a copy of an NRIC or driver's licence to dupe potential victims into thinking that they are genuine sellers.

The only solution will be to use shopping platforms or arrangements that release payment to the seller only upon receipt of the tickets.

Buyers should opt to arrange a meet-up with the seller and pay only after collecting the item.

However, the tickets may still be fake or invalid if the tickets are duplicates.

Purchasing tickets only from authorised sellers remains the safest method of obtaining concert tickets.

[related_story]

To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg.