Help - Trying to Avoid A Ticket Scam

[StartOrien]

So here's the deal -

I've been trying to buy some tickets to Wrestlemania at MetLife stadium. On Stubhub tickets are going for about $179 to get in the house  (even though there's still 3,000 tickets available there)  so I checked Craig's list.

Found someone on Craig's list looking to get rid of 5 hard copy tickets for slightly above face value. Emailed the guy saying I really only needed 4 and he got back to me in about 10 minutes saying it wasn't an issue. He's just afraid of getting stuck with all these tickets.

So, scam, right?

But - this guy is willing to provide me w/ a proof of purchase, and has sent me a picture of the tickets. Tickets LOOK legit. Date, time, location all correct. Seats are legitimate seats, and the ones he's offering are not listed on stubhub (4 seats next to it are).

I've tried searching his email and havent' found anything good/bad, and I'm going to call ticketmaster today to see if there's anything they'd be willing to confirm about the purchase of the tickets before my friend meets him in NYC today.

Anybody got any ideas/tips of other ways to prove the tickets are legitimate.

[Rondo2287]

So here's the deal -

I've been trying to buy some tickets to Wrestlemania at MetLife stadium. On Stubhub tickets are going for about $179 to get in the house  (even though there's still 3,000 tickets available there)  so I checked Craig's list.

Found someone on Craig's list looking to get rid of 5 hard copy tickets for slightly above face value. Emailed the guy saying I really only needed 4 and he got back to me in about 10 minutes saying it wasn't an issue. He's just afraid of getting stuck with all these tickets.

So, scam, right?

But - this guy is willing to provide me w/ a proof of purchase, and has sent me a picture of the tickets. Tickets LOOK legit. Date, time, location all correct. Seats are legitimate seats, and the ones he's offering are not listed on stubhub (4 seats next to it are).

I've tried searching his email and havent' found anything good/bad, and I'm going to call ticketmaster today to see if there's anything they'd be willing to confirm about the purchase of the tickets before my friend meets him in NYC today.

Anybody got any ideas/tips of other ways to prove the tickets are legitimate.

Hey SO, here is a breakdown from EBAY on spotting ticketmaster forgeries.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Ticketmaster-Tickets-REAL-or-FAKE-How-to-decipher_W0QQugidZ10000000005174393

Are those Concert Tickets REAL or FAKE?


So you just purchased concert tickets for the hottest show in town. It may be Hannah Montana. It may be Bruce Springsteen. Whether you buy the tickets on eBay, from a ticket broker, another fan via online classified ads such as Craigslist, or on the day of the show from a common street scalper, there are some safeguards you can take to make sure you're buying good tickets.

1. Check the ticket's overall appearance.

Truth: A hard stock ticketmaster ticket has very thin lamination which makes it glare.

Consequence: If the ticket looks dull, it may be counterfeit

2. Check the performer, date and time.

Truth: I have seen many street scalpers sell the wrong tickets to events. For example

Larry the Cable Guy has 2 shows at Madison Square Garden. 1 show starts at 7:30pm and the next show is at 10:00pm.

An unsuspecting buyer looks for tickets to the sold out show around 9:00pm and a street scalper sells the buyer tickets to the 7:30pm show with the buyer assuming the tickets are for the 10:00pm show.

Consequence: The street scalper takes the cash and leaves and the buyer is stuck with tickets that will not permit entry for the 10pm show. Check every detail of the ticket.

3. Know the venue's seating chart and know the market.

Truth: A lot of scam artists will modify tickets. They will actually use good tickets which will permit entry, but will change the section and row. If someone is selling Front Row tickets, say the Front Row is Floor 1, Row A and they have tickets that say Floor 1, Row 1, then it should set off a signal that the tickets may be modified since the venue uses letters for the rows instead of numbers.

Knowing the market also helps. If someone is selling tickets for $25 a pair and similar tickets are selling for $500, then be cautious.

Consequence: If you are permitted entry with a modified ticket, someone else with the real tickets will be sitting in the seats you think you own. The venue manager will pull both parties aside, make a quick decision which will usually end up with the person who does not have proof of purchase being escorted out of the building.


Did you know that Ticketmaster U.S. makes their tickets secure from counterfeiting? This does not eliminate 100% of the problem, but this is a great way to check and see if those tickets being sold on the street corner are at least from Ticketmaster.

Take the ticket and look at it. The base color for most US Ticketmaster events is white. It may have orange, green or blue on it, but the base color is white and nothing else.



Now hold the ticket up to a strong light source. All the parts that are white should glow blue when you hold it up to a light source.



If you've got some old ticketmaster stubs, try it right now.

In the case you're out in the street, hold the tickets up to the sunlight. It works with sunlight. If you're indoors or buying tickets in the evening, then find a light source closeby and use that.


Now for the hard truth...

If you're not the original purchaser of the tickets, there is ALWAYS a chance that the ticket may not grant you entry into the venue.

Say you buy tickets online. You're not the original buyer, but a secondary buyer. IF the original buyer sells tickets to you, then reports them lost or stolen, Ticketmaster will invalidate your tickets and issue new ones which will be held at Will Call in the name of the original purchaser. And there is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening.

You should buy tickets from reputable sources. If buying on eBay, make sure you check the seller's rating and length of time with eBay.

Some sellers have excellent ratings, but have been members for only months. A lot of them build feedback by selling passwords and other low priced items, then they list a big ticket item and take the money. Make sure the seller has received good feedback for other high ticket items.

Your best bet is to always pay with credit card whenever you can, so in case you buy bogus tickets, you can file a charge back. Try to avoid using cash whenever you can.

I hope this helps. I will be writing a guide to Ticketfast Tickets (e-mail tickets in PDF format) soon. So make sure to check my guides in the near future.

Happy bidding and enjoy your next show. Please do me a favor and vote on this guide below! Thanks for reading. Please contact me if you would like further information on the authenticity of tickets.

[bdm860]

So what's the difference in price between what the Craigslist guy is selling the tickets for and what you could get them on Stubhub for?

[StartOrien]

So what's the difference in price between what the Craigslist guy is selling the tickets for and what you could get them on Stubhub for?

Sorry forgot that - ya, that's pretty important.

It's about $150 less per ticket than the listed price on stubhub. Tickets are being offered for 200 each.

EDIT - Again, since it seems so low I immediately think 'scam!' But at the same time, I can also understand a guy seeing that we're now three weeks away from the event and him getting nervous about losing out on a grand.

[bdm860]

Too big of red flags for me.

The pricing difference is too big of a gap.  Like me personally, I’ve tried to sell tickets off Craigslist so I won’t have to pay Stub Hub/eBay fees.

From Stubhub’s page:
“For example, on the sale of a $100 ticket, the buyer would pay $112. The seller would net $83.72. ”

So if I were selling on Craigslist, I would price my ticket at like $90-$95., offering a slight discount from Stubhub to get the sale, but I still end up with more money in my pocket.

I would never sell my tickets for $150 less than market, and I would never split a set of 5 into 4/1.  It would either be all 5 or at minimum a 3/2 split.  On top of all that, I would never do either of these things almost a month before the event.  I would hold out trying to sell all 5 (or go for the 3/2 split), and I would hold out for more money.  Sure the closer to the event we get, the more I’m willing to sell for a discount and split the tickets, but we’re talking the day of or day before the event.  Not 27 days before the event.

Why would this guy sell for such a discount to the market, and also be willing to get stuck with 1 ticket, when he has so much time left, is in one of largest metropolitan areas in the world, for such a high profile event?

I wouldn’t be worried about being stuck for a grand when I have 27 days to sell my product, at a nice profit, in NYC.

[StartOrien]

Thanks for the input bdm!

[CelticConcourse]

Based on the OP, it seemed legit, but if it's $150 cheaper, that's a big warning sign imo.

[StartOrien]

Guy is now offering copy of his license- seems legit now, right?

[Ogaju]

no its not, its a scam....

if it looks like a dog, smells like a dog, and moves like a dog..

It probably is a DOG.

[KGs Knee]

Guy is now offering copy of his license- seems legit now, right?

As in driver's license?  Do you have a way to verify if the guy is who he says he is, as well as a verifiable home address and phone number?

If you can, it'd seem legit to me.  Just be careful if you can't verify those things, not too hard to get a fake DL.

[guava_wrench]

Just because stubhub has a price doesn't mean that the tickets are selling at that price.

If you want to unload tix and you aren't into being a used car salesman, you might sell at a price close to ticket value.

Nevertheless, I would not trust someone who bought tickets to professional wrestling.

[bdm860]

I'm a skeptic.

If people can make fake tickets, they can also make fake proof of purchases, and they can also make fake drivers licenses...

Back to what I'd do if I was selling my tickets on Craigslist.  So I got some tickets I'm desperate to get rid of to the point that they're priced way under market value and I'm even willing to split the pair leaving me with a practically unsellable 1 ticket.  I doubt I'd only get 1 reply on Craigslist.

So if the first guy who replied kept asking questions and wanted me to do all these things to verify the tickets, forget you, I'll just move onto the next guy.  I'll get probably at least 20 replies, first guy to get me the money and who causes me the least amount of hassle gets my tickets.  I'm not jumping through hoops, especially when there is a lot of demand for what I'm selling.

In my experience though, if a scammer gets a nibble on a fish, they'll do anything to keep that fish on the line.  Want a receipt, I'll give you a receipt, want an ID, I'll show you an ID.  What else do I need to do to convince you and I'll do it.

One thing I might try, is the Craigslist ad still up?  Try emailing him/calling him from a different email address/phone number and inquire about the tickets.  If he suddenly has a different set of tickets or is also willing to sell them to you, then that would be all I need to know.

Wonder if it's this guy, he sure has a lot of ads up, even putting up 2 today.  Wonder if he'll put more ads up tomorrow.

Seems applicable, right in NYC too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIvtFDhz-Cc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsZIoRaqLKM

Here's another video from the same guys, but shows a different scammer, so if you see this guy trying to sell you tickets, run! 

I always hate when a person confronts someone trying to pull a scam, and then proceeds to point out all the mistakes the scammer made.  All you're doing is helping the scammer improve his con skills in the future.

Ok he said my serial numbers need to be sequential, and the address should be on the ticket.  I'll make sure I add that to my next batch going forward.