Ikinalungkot nang husto ni Sofia Pablo na isa siya sa higit isang daang biktima ng diumano'y bogus ticket seller ng The Eras Tour ng iniidolong singer na si Taylor Swift.
Nakatakda sanang manood ang Kapuso young actress ng concert ni Taylor sa Singapore sa unang linggo ng Marso.
Pero ilang linggo bago ang concert, napagtanto ni Sofia na naloko siya at ang iba pang indibidwal na hiwalay na nakatransaksiyon ng scammer.
Noong February 22, 2024, isang netizen ang nag-post sa Facebook ng karanasan niyang siya ay naloko ng isang bogus ticket seller.
Dito nagkomento si Sofia ng "I'm one of the 100 victims."
Eksklusibong nakapanayam ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), sa pamamagitan ng palitan ng mensahe noong Biyernes, February 23, at nitong Lunes, February 26.
Tinatayang PHP15M ang kabuuang nakuha ng scammer mula sa mga nabiktima nito, saad ni Sofia.
August 2023 nang maghanap siya ng mapagbibilhan ng tickets, dahil July 2023 pa lamang ay sold out na ang tickets sa official sellers ng Eras Tour.
Dalawang sellers ang nakaengkuwentro ni Sofia.
Ang First Seller ay nahanap niya sa Carousell, isang online marketplace.
Personal na nakausap at nakaharap ni Sofia ang First Seller para sa kanilang transaksiyon, kaya hindi niya akalaing magkakaproblema sa kanyang ticket.
Lahad ni Sofia sa PEP.ph: "In August, I began searching for Eras Tour concert tickets and found someone on the Carousell app selling VIP 1 tickets.
"To ensure I wouldn’t be scammed, we agreed that I wouldn’t pay until I received the account details.
"On August 9, 2023, we met in person in BGC where she handed over the account. I was able to change the name, number and password but couldn’t change the email.
"She also showed me her valid ID for reassurance."
Itinuloy ni Sofia ang pagbili ng ticket.
Pero makalipas ang limang buwan, nagkaaberya nang tingnan ulit ni Sofia ang account para sa kanyang ticket.
"After receiving all the tickets, I made the full payment.
"I regularly accessed the account to prevent it from becoming inactive. In January, when I tried to log in, I saw that the user was disabled.
"I contacted the seller immediately, who claimed she was worried and couldn’t find the original owner because she found the owner of the tickets on Facebook Marketplace."
Sa kagustuhan ni Sofia na maresolba ang isyu, siya na raw ang kumilos para makontak ang original owner ng kanyang ticket.
Nag-email daw si Sofia sa original owner.
"After a few days, the owner responded, asking who sold me the tickets and urging me to call him urgently.
"Upon speaking with him, I discovered that he hadn’t sold his tickets; his account had been hacked.
"He had gone to Singapore to report the hack, resulting in me losing access to the account."
Kinumpronta ni Sofia ang First Seller sa natuklasang hindi pala talaga ipinagbebenta ng original owner ang tickets na nabili niya.
"Upon confronting the initial seller, she was tearful, claiming she didn’t know what to do and just wanted to earn decently.
"She offered a refund but could only pay in installments due to limited income from reselling concert tickets and 'pasabuy' items from Japan.
"We declined as we we really wanted to attend the concert and requested she replaces our tickets."
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SOFIA PABLO MEETS SECOND SELLER
Sa puntong ito nakilala ni Sofia ang Second Seller, na inirekomenda sa kanya ng First Seller.
"This is when the involvement of another seller, who had scammed over 100 buyers, came in.
"The initial seller, along with the new seller, proposed a solution, urging us to settle our balance with the initial seller directly and buy tickets from the new seller instead.
"He mentioned transactions with reputable individuals like famous influencers to gain our trust."
Ayon kay Sofia, nag-check pa siya ng reviews tungkol kay Second Seller para masigurong lehitimo ito.
"However, we were cautious and conducted background checks. It turned out the new seller indeed had positive feedback and provided contracts to clients (other buyers even had their contracts notarized), promising legal action if tickets weren’t delivered.
"Initially hesitant due to the large sum paid to the first seller, we planned to use the refund to pay the new seller."
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SOFIA PAYS FOR TICKET FROM SECOND SELLER
Hindi pa raw nakukuha ni Sofia ang refund mula sa First Seller nang makumbinsi siya ng Second Seller na bayaran agad ang ibinebenta nitong The Eras Tour concert tickets.
Kuwento ni Sofia sa PEP.ph: "However, one evening, the new seller offered VIP 1 Row 1 Section PD2 tickets, close to the diamond section, requiring a down payment to secure the swap from his inventory friend, the owner of the tickets.
"Seeing my disappointment, my mom agreed to deposit another down payment that night.
"To reassure us, the new seller even provided a photo of himself with his passport. After a week, when we requested the contract, he insisted on completing 70% of the down payment before proceeding, as per his standard procedure with all clients.
"We complied and made another payment to him."
Ang buong akala ni Sofia ay maayos ang deal nila ni Second Seller.
Inasahan ng Kapuso star na makukuha niya ang kanyang ticket para sa Singapore leg ng concert ni Taylor Swift noong February 20.
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SOFIA DISCOVERS ERAS TOUR SINGAPORE LEG SCAM
Pero bigo ulit si Sofia.
"Ticketmaster typically sends out tickets two weeks before the event," tukoy ni Sofia sa official distributor ng tickets para sa Eras Tour.
"On February 18, Ticketmaster began distributing all tickets for the SG leg of the Eras Tour.
"When I inquired about our tickets availability on February 20, it became apparent that there were no tickets available for any of us from the beginning."
Nakausap pa raw niya si Second Seller ukol dito.
"Initially, the seller claimed that his account was voided by Ticketmaster due to someone reporting him for reselling tickets.
"He even provided fake email screenshots complaining to Ticketmaster about being the only reseller with a voided account."
Pero noong araw ring iyon, kinontak si Sofia ng original owner ng ticket na nabili niya.
Ito raw ang nagpaabot sa kanyang manloloko ang nakatransaksiyon niyang Second Seller.
"Later that day, the original owner of the Ticketmaster account messaged me, confirming that the new seller I was dealing with appeared to be a scammer and added us to a group chat with other victims.
"It was shocking to discover the extent of the scam, with multiple victims in the group chat, some of whom had purchased the same tickets.
"The seller consistently reasoned with all of us, claiming to be in a queue to speak with Ticketmaster, but ultimately, Ticketmaster voided the tickets.
"This is how the scam happened, affecting over 100 victims and resulting in a total of 15 million pesos scammed from Swifties."
Hindi malinaw kung ano ang ugnayan ni First Seller kay Second Seller na nakaengkuwentro ni Sofia.
Umabot ng PHP215,000 ang kabuaang investment ni Sofia para sa Eras Tour concert ni Taylor Swift.
Sa ulat ng GMA News kagabi, February 26, tungkol sa kaugnay na isyu, isang netizen ang nag-report sa National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) tungkol sa multiple counts of scam sangkot ang bogus ticket seller.
Iyon din ang natukoy na Second Seller na nakaengkuwentro ni Sofia.
Nagbabala ang pulisya na mag-ingat sa mga nakakaengkuwentrong sellers, lalo na sa high-profile at in-demand concerts tulad ng The Eras Tour ni Taylor Swift.