By Darius
To be honest, attending concerts wasn't something I did until I came to Hong Kong. I've never been the type to obsess over a particular singer or spend an entire evening listening to live performances. Before this, the closest I'd gotten to a concert-like experience was probably watching a CBA basketball game.
After coming to Hong Kong for studies, I finally had my first real concert experience—a Hins Cheung show. I'd long heard that Hong Kong was an international metropolis, and indeed, major events just keep coming one after another. Soon after, I attended concerts by Gigi Leung, Eason Chan, Mayday, and even Coldplay, transforming from a total newbie into a self-proclaimed "expert."
But as the saying goes: Even the best fall down sometimes. And the "expert?" Well, I've had my share of mishaps.
Due to the online lottery system for tickets, not everyone is lucky enough to secure a seat, so scalpers often become the go-to option for the less fortunate. Sometimes, buying from scalpers can be a stroke of luck, but other times, it just makes things worse, leaving you with neither tickets nor money.
Guess what happened to me? Scammed!
This story starts with an Eason Chan concert. Unable to get tickets through official channels, a friend and I found a self-proclaimed scalper on a social media platform. Lacking experience, we trusted their "reputation" too much and ended up losing thousands of dollars. The account looked "professional," as if they'd been in the scalping business for years, so we let our guard down—and eventually paid the price.
Recently, Hong Kong has seen another wave of fake ticket scams, making me realize just how hard it is to stay safe. What tricked me was an online transaction, but now even face-to-face exchanges can be traps. Many victims only realize they've been duped when they try to enter the venue—I can't even imagine how they must feel in that moment. How many people can tell real tickets from fakes? And who can confidently say they'll never get scammed?
Since buying from scalpers isn't a regulated transaction, there's almost no legal protection. If something goes wrong, the chances of recovering your losses are slim. After my friend and I were scammed, we filed a police report, but to this day, we haven't gotten our money back. What stuck with me even more was walking into the police station and seeing a few other young people who'd been cheated the same way. Meeting under these circumstances was, frankly speaking, pretty awkward.
So, folks, let's all try to avoid this kind of awkwardness in the future, shall we? Stick to official channels—your wallet and dignity will thank you.
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