SINGAPORE - Online marketplace Carousell has suspended the sales of BTS’ Singapore concert tickets on its platform ahead of their shows here in December to help guard its users from scams.

Ticket sales on its platform will be suspended until Dec 22, the band’s last concert date in Singapore for their Arirang World Tour, the company said in a statement on June 5. All existing listings will be removed and new ones will not be allowed.

The septet – comprising RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook – are scheduled to hold four concerts at the National Stadium on Dec 17, 19, 20 and 22. They previously performed at the same venue in January 2019.

While there had not seen any signs of scams linked to the sale of the band’s concert tickets on Carousell, existing listings for the concerts were being removed “as a precautionary measure to help protect users on the platform”, said a spokesperson.

The move to suspend ticket sales was made in response to an official announcement and request from the police, the spokesperson added.

Presale tickets for the December concerts, which went on sale on June 3 and June 4, have sold out. Resale prices for these tickets reached as high as thousands of dollars. General ticket sales started at noon on June 5.

Carousell said it is using a mix of artificial intelligence (AI) and manual moderation to detect and remove listings.

“As moderation takes place after a listing is published, users may see newly created listings temporarily before they are removed,” the spokesperson added.

Users are urged to report any Arirang World Tour concert listings directly via the report function on the platform.

“We assess each situation on a case-by-case basis, taking into account relevant advisories from the authorities and user safety considerations,” said the spokesperson.

This is not the first time Carousell has suspended the sale of concert tickets on its p...