It was meant to be a simple way to get tickets for a day out.

In March this year, Miss Felicia Chua, 35, had been looking for seven tickets to Universal Studios Singapore when she found a listing with an attractive offer.

Miss Chua told The New Paper she had often bought goods from online marketplace app Carousell and had only good experiences.

She did not think twice about transferring $302.50 to the seller.

After a few days with no response, she realised she had been too trusting and made a police report.

Her case is still under investigation.

However, Miss Chua is determined to prevent others from falling victim to these scams.

She has been recording the usernames of various scam accounts, as well as finding others who made police reports.

"After talking to other victims, I realised this happens a lot. I want others to know what they should look out for when making deals," said Miss Chua.

She has been actively searching Carousell listings and flagging accounts that look suspicious.One example would be accounts that spam listings of the same item and have a lot of negative feedback.

Another possible warning sign is when they do not post the actual photos of the item on sale. She now has 24 known victims.

On April 3, Crystal (not her real name), 31, came across a pre-order listing for a Chanel purse. It was lower than the retail price.

Today, she is out almost $6,000 with nothing to show for it.

Crystal thought she was being cautious. She told TNP that she checked the seller's profile to confirm the seller could be trusted.

The seller had received positive feedback from five accounts.

After two weeks, the seller responded and agreed to the deal. Crystal sent $5,800 by bank transfer.

SPORADIC

They communicated through WhatsApp, but Crystal received only sporadic responses from the seller and no proof of purchase.

Then she saw that the positive feedback had disappeared from the seller's profile. She e-mailed Carousell to get more information.

However, Carousell said that as part of its privacy policy, it was not able to reveal any information about another account.

Crystal put up a listing to warn others about the seller. She soon discovered she was not alone.

Another victim said that the accounts praising the seller were bogus and had all been created on the same day.

In Crystal's case, the seller had responded occasionally to text messages, but she kept delaying their meet-ups.

This drove Crystal to make a police report. The seller's account was suspended a few days later.

Madam Jennifer Ko's 16-year-old daughter wanted to see K-pop group EXO in Singapore. But all she experienced in the end was regret.

Tickets were sold out on the official website so she turned to Carousell and found a pair for $700.

Madam Ko, 34, told TNP the "seller" requested a $50 transfer to one bank account and $650 to be transferred to another.

She did that, but they did not receive the tickets and there was no word from the seller.

This was in December last year, a month before the concert in January. Madam Ko and her daughter made police reportsand also posted about the incident on Facebook.

Others have fallen for the lure of tickets.

Secondary school student Lim Wei Ze, 14, purchased a ticket for a Hebe Tien concert here, but ended up losing $100.

Wei Ze said: "I fell into a trap because (the seller) pressured me. She said she would sell it to others if I didn't buy it quickly.

"I was really worried about not attending the concert, so I succumbed and ended up sending the money in a bank transfer."

As with Madam Ko's daughter, there were no tickets and no communication with the seller.

Following the incident, Wei Ze posted a listing on the Carousell, warning others about the scammer.

She soon found five other victims, including Madam Ko's daughter, who believed they were cheated by the same person.

They banded together, but by the time police reports were made, the scammer's account had been terminated. The seller escaped with at least $1,100.

Wei Ze said: "I felt I was being too naive and shouldn't have been impulsive. I regret not taking all the necessary measures to make sure that it was a legitimate deal."

Despite her negative experience, Miss Chua says she will continue using the app.

“There are bad and good things on every app. You just have to be careful.”