The promoters of Field Day have issued a warning over fake tickets five days out from the new year's day event.
The 15th edition of the annual event sold out on 21 December creating increased interest for desperate buyers. Promoters 'Fuzzy' advised on social media this afternoon:
There are quite a few people selling fake or invalid Field day tickets. Don't buy any unless you can be sure the seller can be trusted.
Last year, hundreds of Australian consumers were pinched by fraudsters operating under the false identity Alex Ferrero. The con artist advertised on GumTree and subsequently met numerous victims in person, showed them fake ID and even forwarded the supposed original purchase e-mail. A Facebook Page was created for people to share experiences and information in the pursuit of 'Ferrero'.
In the UK, in the six months to October this year, consumers were cheated out of nearly £1.3m as a result of spiralling entertainment and sport ticket fraud, which targeted purchasers of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Foo Fighters and One Direction tickets.
Website kijiji recommends:
The number one rule to remember is to always transact in person. The majority of scams happen when transactions occur using online money transfers like Western Union. Fraudsters will ask that potential buyers send a deposit, or the full amount, before they send the tickets. They typically disappear once the money has been received.
Try to meet the seller at a place where you can have the tickets verified, like the venue itself. You will want to call ahead to ensure that they are both willing and able to check that particular event for you, as they are not always able to do this ahead of the event.
All major community sites such as Craiglist include 'how to avoid scam' pages. Even for a cautious buyer, a major difficulty with a third-party-purchased ticket can be that it was originally legitimately bought, but has been sold and re-sold many, sometimes hundreds, of times. Only the first person with the re-sold ticket(s) at the turnstyle will be admitted. Subsequent arrivals will be prevented from entering as the ticket's barcode has already been scanned.
