19-year-old charged with AI-generated fake concert ticket fraud in Hai Phong
A 19-year-old in Hải Phòng, Vietnam used AI image-editing tools to fabricate concert ticket QR codes for a BIGBANG concert and sold them fraudulently on Zalo, defrauding at least seven people of over 40 million Vietnamese đồng. Police opened an investigation after receiving a complaint on 24 August 2026.
What happened
On 18 August 2026, a 19-year-old male named Đào Trọng Nghĩa learned about an upcoming BIGBANG concert scheduled for 24–25 October 2026 at Mỹ Đình Stadium in Hà Nội. He obtained images of concert ticket QR codes from Facebook groups and used an AI tool to edit and alter them.
Nghĩa created a Zalo account under his own name and opened a chat group titled 'MUA VÉ BIG BANG' where he posted the AI-edited ticket images for sale at three price points: CAT 3-1 at 3.5 million đồng, CAT 5-2 at 1 million đồng, and ULTIMATE at 10.5 million đồng. He posted the fake tickets on the V.I.P Hải Phòng Zalo group.
On 18 August, victim Kiều Thu Hiền saw the listing and transferred 2 million đồng as a deposit toward a 3.5 million đồng ticket price. After repeatedly requesting the ticket and receiving no delivery, she reported the matter to police on 24 August. Police confirmed that approximately 40 million đồng in total was transferred to Nghĩa's account by multiple victims, money he used for personal purposes.
Reported impact
At least seven victims, including Kiều Thu Hiền, lost money totalling over 40 million đồng in the fraud scheme.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.