SINGAPORE – A woman who wanted to earn fast cash duped people into buying concert tickets from her, including for shows by popular artistes Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.

       Zeta Darwisyah Jefry, 23, scammed six people of over $2,700 between December 2023 and March. She also cheated someone into giving her a concert ticket, for which she did not pay.

       Zeta was sentenced to seven months’ jail on Nov 22 after pleading guilty to two counts of cheating and one count of criminal breach of trust.

       Five other charges of cheating and one charge under the Computer Misuse Act were taken into consideration for her sentencing.

       Deputy Public Prosecutor Sunil Nair said Zeta had cheated others as she wanted to “earn fast cash”.

       He told the court details of two of her victims.

       On Dec 27, 2023, a 27-year-old woman was searching a Telegram group chat for concert tickets when she was contacted by Zeta, who introduced herself as “Nuryn Shahirah”.

       By signing up, I accept SPH Media's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.

       Zeta claimed she was employed by ticketing services provider Ticketmaster and could get tickets for the victim. Court documents did not state which concert this was for.

       The victim transferred $736 for two concert tickets to Zeta’s Revolut account. Zeta told the victim that the account belonged to Ticketmaster and that the tickets would come in a week’s time.

       The victim later called Ticketmaster and discovered they had no such employee or account.

       Zeta initially agreed to refund the victim but kept giving excuses to buy time. The victim eventually reported the matter to the police.

       The second victim, a 19-year-old man, contacted Zeta in March after seeing her offer of the Taylor Swift concert tickets she could sell on a Telegram group chat named “NTU Marketplace”. Concerned about being scammed, the man asked for proof that she was a genuine seller.

       She sent him a redacted Ticketmaster e-ticket and a picture of another person’s NRIC, along with ownership details of a Mari bank account number which tallied with the NRIC.

       Satisfied that Zeta was a genuine seller, the man tried to transfer $700 to the Mari bank account for two tickets, but the transfer could not go through. Zeta then asked him to transfer the money to her DBS Bank account.

       Zeta told him that someone would meet him at the stadium to give him the tickets, but subsequently “went incommunicado”, said DPP Nair.

       She spent the two victims’ money on personal expenses.

       Separately, in 2022, Zeta dishonestly misappropriated $16,269 that a stranger deposited into her bank account. At least $1,375 of this sum was revealed to be scam proceeds.

       She had found a job through a user named “Bonskiski” on a Telegram group chat, who promised her $5,000 to safe-keep some money and transfer the funds to another bank account upon being told to do so.

       As more money accumulated in the account, Zeta decided to withdraw the money for her own use and blocked “Bonskiski” on Telegram. Later, she sent messages to “Bonskiski” to explain she had spent the money and urged him not to report her to the police.

       Court documents did not reveal how this particular offence came to light.

       DPP Nair asked for six to nine months’ imprisonment, while her lawyer Jason Too from the Public Defender’s Office asked for six to seven months’ jail.

       Zeta was previously sentenced in 2019 to reformative training. Mr Too said she found it difficult to find a job after her release. He added: “That said, (she) accepts that it is no excuse and she is sorry for what she has done.”