PENNSYLVANIA, USA — With concerts officially back in America, so are concert ticket scams.
Recent reports to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Scam Tracker show that scammers are preying on concertgoers by imitating popular ticket seller Ticketmaster.
Here's how the scam works, the scam website will present itself very similarly to Ticketmaster, but under the name of TicketSmarter or TicketFaster. The website will have customers enter their personal information and credit card information like Ticketmaster, but after the "tickets" are purchased is when the true scam is revealed.
Customers could receive tickets with the incorrect name or simply not receive the tickets at all. Or, the tickets will be delivered at a much higher rate than the website advertised.
When the scammed customer attempts to call customer service for the sham website, they are either unreachable, unhelpful, or aggressive.
“They sent me two tickets with someone else's name on them, and they also charged me three times the amount [of] the ticket price," said a scammed buyer. I have no way to get a refund and no customer service to contact (except by email) because they do not answer their phone.”
Here are the best ways to avoid such scams:
- Purchase directly from the venue. The safest way to purchase event tickets is to go directly through the venue, either in person or through their official website. The venue’s website may point you to Ticketmaster or another provider to complete your purchase, but you can be sure of having the correct website URL.
- Check out the seller. If you purchase from a third-party company, make sure they are a reputable ticket vendor or reseller, not a ticket scalper. Check reviews on BBB.org.
- Watch out for fake websites. Take a close look at the website’s URL to ensure there are no slight misspellings. Impostors like to make lookalike websites with domain names that are similar to well-known business names. This makes them hard to spot.
- Use a safe payment method. Always make online purchases with your credit card. You can dispute fraudulent charges and have a better chance of getting your money back.
If you’ve spotted a scam (whether or not you’ve lost money), report it here. Your report can help others avoid falling victim to scams.
