Craigslist Tickets Scams

NB108713 · August 2015

Im sure everyone knows that the amount of ticket scams on Craiglist and other markets are vast, especially for GCF. I just wanted to post to fellow 10C members and let them know to try and resist temptations through these markets. I, like many, was shut out of Fan Club presale. I began searching every avenue I could for VIP tickets for our wedding anniversary. Someone had messaged me on Craiglist and said they had 2 tickets and if I was interested. I went through every channel I could to make sure tickets were legit. I paid through invoice she had sent on PayPal. Long story short, she will not respond to emails or calls. I'm currently in the process of filing a claim through PayPal for refund. I just thought I share my stupidly, and hopefully some can learn from it. Let me know if anyone has any similar experiances. I'll get to that show somehow!

nycrats · August 2015

sorry to hear for your troubles
if its too good to be true it usually is on cl..

dimitrispearljam · August 2015

it sucks..someone won free tix at the draw for the festival and try to sell at facebook page 1200 $(2x600 )
we ban them right away..

CopperTom · August 2015

Tickets don't appear in your TM account until a few days before the event. I'm not sure what you expected to receive from the seller anyway.

NB108713 · August 2015

I realize that. Thank you. She forwarded me confirmation email.

deadendp · August 2015

NB108713 said:
I realize that. Thank you. She forwarded me confirmation email.

So is she standing by her agreement to pass the tickets on to you when she receives them? That would be wonderful if she did. Keep us updated! Good luck!

cmalisze · August 2015

NB is a good guy. I hope the tickets prove to be legit. I'm keeping my eye out for you also sir!

NB108713 · August 2015

I hope she is standing by agreement, but I'm kind of in the dark. I guess that's the risk you take with Craiglist. I'm really hoping that there are some decent people on there. I actually have talked to a lot of great people in the process (had a lot of creepers try to sell me tickets as well), so it might all work out! We'll see. Looking forward to NYC!

NB108713 · August 2015

I think today I will begin my search for 2 VIP tickets from someone a little more honest. If anyone has any ideas or know anyone that might have tickets, please PM me! thank you! I already have a plane ticket and place to stay, so all I need is 2 tickets! I can't wait!

Saltzy23 · August 2015

I actually had the exact opposite thing happen on Craigslist last week. Was looking to get into the U2 show and replied to an ad a few hours before the show. Had the guy email me the tickets, which happened to be awesome seats, and told me to send him what I thought was fair after I got in. Can't believe it was actually legit. Seats in the same area were going for like $250 on StubHub, so I Paypaled him $200 the next day which I guess he was OK with being that I haven't heard anything back from him. Cra Cra that someone would email me like $400-$500 worth of tickets on my honor that i would pay after I got in.

NB108713 · August 2015

Hahaha. That's awesome! I wish that would've been the case!!

PJ_Soul · August 2015

It's not stupidity if you used the goods and services on PayPal, which i assume you did, since you have filed a claim (although i'm not quite clear on why you think it's a scam at this point... i guess because of lack of info from the seller?). You did it the right way. Stupid would have been using the friends option or wiring money or something.

Alternately, there are really honest sellers on CL, and many of then selling for face value or very close. I know because I've been one of them several times.

But buyers are definitely paranoid and I can't blame them. It's easy for a seller to prove the tix are real, particularly if they were purchased from TM. The buyers need to insist in those methods if the seller doesn't offer.

Good luck finding real tickets!

NB108713 · August 2015

Thanks for your post. Good points. At this point, I have called PayPal about the process, but not official filed a claim. I guess there really isn't a claim to file until she doesn't deliver tickets by the date, or they don't get me in the door. You are right about the seller being paranoid as well. I had to talked to another 10C member right after I purchased tickets. He had a similar interaction which appeared to be the same CL seller. He sent me their dialog, and she gave him a little different story, and she told him she sold the tickets, only to sell them to me a week later. So I guess this is where I began to get nervous.

You said there were multiple ways to check tickets. Is there anything else I should do? She said she would forward confirmation email, but still hasn't. I guess my big fear is taking my wife to NYC and getting denied at entrance. Thanks!

deadendp · August 2015

If that were to happen, it's still NYC and there's nothing to say that you couldn't go partying out on the blanket with the other PJ peeps that would be shut out. Word has it that you can still do the Global Citizen journeys and try to score tickets that way. It can't hurt. Free to do it and heck, throw in a bit of awareness at the same time.

Horse2345 · August 2015

There is no way to completely verify or guarantee any tickets. You might get authentic ticketmaster tickets but the original purchaser can just say he/she lost them and get new ones reprinted. No different then reprinting print at home ones except TM would catch on if you kept getting them reprinted.

on2legs · August 2015

Horse2345 said:
There is no way to completely verify or guarantee any tickets. You might get authentic ticketmaster tickets but the original purchaser can just say he/she lost them and get new ones reprinted. No different then reprinting print at home ones except TM would catch on if you kept getting them reprinted.

Actually, ticketmaster allows you to transfer tickets to another person's account. Only legitimate tickets can be transferred. And once they're transferred they're yours which would eliminate someone's ability to claim they lost them and get them reprinted.

Horse2345 · August 2015

on2legs said:

Horse2345 said:
There is no way to completely verify or guarantee any tickets. You might get authentic ticketmaster tickets but the original purchaser can just say he/she lost them and get new ones reprinted. No different then reprinting print at home ones except TM would catch on if you kept getting them reprinted.
Actually, ticketmaster allows you to transfer tickets to another person's account. Only legitimate tickets can be transferred. And once they're transferred they're yours which would eliminate someone's ability to claim they lost them and get them reprinted.

Still doesn't guarantee anything, people have created TM accounts with stolen credit cards transferred the tickets then the tickets have been cancelled when credit cards reported. Yes, probably get your money back from paypal but still out tickets if it happens last minute.

derbydave · August 2015

As suggested by the wise person above...
Why not try for a set of the free tickets thru Global Citizen??
Then you would have a back-up set to get into the show if there WAS an issue!!

PJ_Soul · August 2015

NB108713 said:
Thanks for your post. Good points. At this point, I have called PayPal about the process, but not official filed a claim. I guess there really isn't a claim to file until she doesn't deliver tickets by the date, or they don't get me in the door. You are right about the seller being paranoid as well. I had to talked to another 10C member right after I purchased tickets. He had a similar interaction which appeared to be the same CL seller. He sent me their dialog, and she gave him a little different story, and she told him she sold the tickets, only to sell them to me a week later. So I guess this is where I began to get nervous.

You said there were multiple ways to check tickets. Is there anything else I should do? She said she would forward confirmation email, but still hasn't. I guess my big fear is taking my wife to NYC and getting denied at entrance. Thanks!

Well the best thing to do is have the owner/seller of the tickets transfer the tickets to you via Ticketmaster. I'm pretty sure all TM tickets allow this to be done. You would then get confirmation directly from TM that the tickets have been transfered to you, and that way you pretty much know they're real...... I did just read the thing about TM accounts and stolen credit cards with this method. But this isn't common, and you would still be protected by PayPal (always use PayPal!!), so again, in the long run you don't have too much to worry about. It's good to be cautious, but there isn't much point in being completely paranoid. If you're going to go that way, you may as well give up on buying from the secondary market altogether.

But if I were you, I wouldn't worry TOO much about getting into the show either way. Even if you somehow get ripped off, there will be TONS of tickets to be had outside the venue and on stubhub. This is a massive show; there will be plenty of tix right up until the show starts.

NB108713 · August 2015

Thanks for all the input! I'm feeling more positive about the situation. I am indeed trying for the GA Lawn as a backup plan. I also had heard that some shows using Ticketmaster doesn't allow the ticket transfer. Anyone know about this? Or if it applies to GCF?

cmalisze · August 2015

To my knowledge, the VIP tickets aren't able to be transferred just yet. The person on the board that I purchased mine from tried and it wasn't allowed quite yet.

PP193448 · August 2015

on2legs said:

Horse2345 said:
There is no way to completely verify or guarantee any tickets. You might get authentic ticketmaster tickets but the original purchaser can just say he/she lost them and get new ones reprinted. No different then reprinting print at home ones except TM would catch on if you kept getting them reprinted.
Actually, ticketmaster allows you to transfer tickets to another person's account. Only legitimate tickets can be transferred. And once they're transferred they're yours which would eliminate someone's ability to claim they lost them and get them reprinted.

Some promoters, bands, and venues don't allow that option. I tried to do that with my seats for the U2 Chicago show last month and was not allowed because it wasn't available for that show (promoter aka U2 did not allow ticket transfer)

PJ_Soul · August 2015

PP193448 said:

on2legs said:

Horse2345 said:
There is no way to completely verify or guarantee any tickets. You might get authentic ticketmaster tickets but the original purchaser can just say he/she lost them and get new ones reprinted. No different then reprinting print at home ones except TM would catch on if you kept getting them reprinted.
Actually, ticketmaster allows you to transfer tickets to another person's account. Only legitimate tickets can be transferred. And once they're transferred they're yours which would eliminate someone's ability to claim they lost them and get them reprinted.
Some promoters, bands, and venues don't allow that option. I tried to do that with my seats for the U2 Chicago show last month and was not allowed because it wasn't available for that show (promoter aka U2 did not allow ticket transfer)

I didn't know that. I thought it was available for all TM shows. Restricting this feature is a really stupid thing to do. But anyway, it's a wonderful feature if available.

on2legs · August 2015

Horse2345 said:

on2legs said:

Horse2345 said:
There is no way to completely verify or guarantee any tickets. You might get authentic ticketmaster tickets but the original purchaser can just say he/she lost them and get new ones reprinted. No different then reprinting print at home ones except TM would catch on if you kept getting them reprinted.
Actually, ticketmaster allows you to transfer tickets to another person's account. Only legitimate tickets can be transferred. And once they're transferred they're yours which would eliminate someone's ability to claim they lost them and get them reprinted.
Still doesn't guarantee anything, people have created TM accounts with stolen credit cards transferred the tickets then the tickets have been cancelled when credit cards reported. Yes, probably get your money back from paypal but still out tickets if it happens last minute.

I suppose there are endless hypothetical doomsday scenarios you could cite, but I was simply responding to your remarks about people reprinting tickets.

Horse2345 · August 2015

on2legs said:

Horse2345 said:

on2legs said:

Horse2345 said:
There is no way to completely verify or guarantee any tickets. You might get authentic ticketmaster tickets but the original purchaser can just say he/she lost them and get new ones reprinted. No different then reprinting print at home ones except TM would catch on if you kept getting them reprinted.
Actually, ticketmaster allows you to transfer tickets to another person's account. Only legitimate tickets can be transferred. And once they're transferred they're yours which would eliminate someone's ability to claim they lost them and get them reprinted.
Still doesn't guarantee anything, people have created TM accounts with stolen credit cards transferred the tickets then the tickets have been cancelled when credit cards reported. Yes, probably get your money back from paypal but still out tickets if it happens last minute.
I suppose there are endless hypothetical doomsday scenarios you could cite, but I was simply responding to your remarks about people reprinting tickets.

Not a hypothetical when its already happened. I was just responding to your remarks that only legitimate tickets could be transferred.

deadendp · August 2015

NB108713 said:
Thanks for all the input! I'm feeling more positive about the situation. I am indeed trying for the GA Lawn as a backup plan. I also had heard that some shows using Ticketmaster doesn't allow the ticket transfer. Anyone know about this? Or if it applies to GCF?

Because my friend doesn't have a credit card, I bought her Modest Mouse ticket for her and transferred it over. She picked it up through email and all is well. It should be said that when I purchased Pixies tickets for a few of us this past spring, somehow I ended up with the printed ticket option and was unable to transfer the ticket by email because a physical ticket was already on the way. (Makes sense and I still don't quite know how it happened.) I've also never purchased tickets where the TM ticket transfer wasn't an option. There's always a first for everything though.

NB108713 · August 2015

Thanks for information. I have emailed this person a couple times in the last day or so, with no response. All I'm asked for is a confirmation email, which she said she was going to forward. Not looking good for tickets. Now I must decide whether to try and get money back now, or wait it out for awhile. We'll see.

Craigslist Tickets Scams

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