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An 18-year-old man was arrested for his suspected involvement in cheating buyers in a series of e-commerce scams involving the sale of Marquee Singapore tickets, the Singapore Police Force said in a Aug. 12 press release.

Marquee is Singapore's biggest nightclub, which reopened for business at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands on Jul. 1, 2022, following the easing of Covid-19 measures.

Alden Christopher Tan Choong Siang, faces one count of cheating, Today reported.

Tan was charged in court on Friday, Aug. 12.

He is said to have duped one victim into believing he had genuine tickets to Marquee, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

The victim made an advanced payment of S$1,020 to Tan on Jul. 29, according to ST.

More than 30 counts of e-commerce scams suspected

In the release, the police said they received information about the alleged scam on Jul. 31.

Through extensive investigations by officers from the Commercial Affairs Department, the identity of the main perpetrator was identified and the arrest was made on Aug. 10.

Preliminary investigations also revealed that the man is believed to be involved in more than 30 counts of e-commerce scams involving up to S$8,500.

Posts advertised on Telegram chat group

The sale of tickets was advertised on the Telegram chat group "SG Clubbing", where club-goers buy and sell entry tickets for nightclubs, the police release stated.

Victims were purportedly deceived into making advanced payments to secure entry tickets to the nightclub.

According to an image shared by the police, one instance of the scam appeared to involve selling tickets to Marquee on Aug. 6, which coincided with the night of Jackson Wang's sold-out event.

The tickets were sold at around market rate, but potential buyers were told they would not need to queue for entry.

Tickets of that event were priced from S$60 to S$200 and were sold out in a day.

Marquee tickets usually start at S$40, depending on the programme.

Multiple alleged victims came forth

Based on messages in the Telegram group seen by Mothership, suspicions of a scam were raised when a handful of users of the group chat realised they had the same experience when dealing with a seller going by the name "adam".

In one instance, a user supposedly reached out to a general manager at Marquee on Jul. 30 to ask about the identity of the seller and if the nightclub had a record of the person.

The user was told that it was a scam, and that tickets for the Aug. 6 event were only sold online and had a limited quantity.

In relation to dealings with "adam", users appeared to have started coming together in a separate group chat on Jul. 31, based on the messages in the Telegram group.

For each count of cheating, Tan faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine.

Today also noted that young offenders under the age of 21 can be sentenced to probation or reformative training.

Tan was released on S$15,000 bail.

The case was adjourned until Sept. 8 as investigations are ongoing, ST wrote.

Top image via Marquee Singapore, Singapore Police Force