SAITAMA (TR) — Police in Saitama Prefecture have arrested a 28-year-old woman accused of swindling a K-pop fan out of electronic money by falsely offering live concert tickets on social media, reports Nippon News Network (Apr. 22).
Kana Shibuya, a company employee from Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of fraud, according to the Yoshikawa Police Station.
Upon her arrest, Shibuya admitted to the allegations. “I was deceived in the exact same way before,” the suspect told investigators. “I wanted to recover the money I had lost.”
According to police, the incident took place in December 2024. Shibuya allegedly made a fraudulent post on social media claiming she had a ticket to transfer for a South Korean male idol’s upcoming live concert.
A 27-year-old female company employee from the town of Matsubushi, Saitama Prefecture, responded to the offer. Believing the transaction was genuine, the victim was duped into transferring approximately 60,000 yen in electronic money to the suspect — an amount roughly double the regular face value of the ticket.
However, investigators revealed that Shibuya never possessed the ticket she claimed to be selling.
The scam was ultimately uncovered when the victim arrived at the venue on the day of the live event, only to find the legitimate ticket holder already sitting in her assigned seat.
