Police Investigate AC/DC Ticket Scam

Police in Britain have launched an investigation after hundreds of AC/DC fans fell victim to a ticket scam which saw them turned away from a concert in Birmingham, England.

Hundreds of people were unable to access the rockers' gig at the LG arena on Friday night, with many arriving to collect their tickets from the box office only to be informed they had been scammed by counterfeiters.

Fans holding legitimate tickets were also caught up in the chaos as massive queues formed outside the venue - meaning many missed the start of the show by over an hour.

Police arrested two men at the scene on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. An investigation into the internet arm of the deception is ongoing.

Matty35 wrote:

Police in Britain have launched an investigation after hundreds of AC/DC fans fell victim to a ticket scam which saw them turned away from a concert in Birmingham, England.

Hundreds of people were unable to access the rockers' gig at the LG arena on Friday night, with many arriving to collect their tickets from the box office only to be informed they had been scammed by counterfeiters.

Fans holding legitimate tickets were also caught up in the chaos as massive queues formed outside the venue - meaning many missed the start of the show by over an hour.

Police arrested two men at the scene on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. An investigation into the internet arm of the deception is ongoing.

Can't say I'm surprised at this all. Feel for the fans though.

As good a reason as I've heard to go back to buying your tickets from the VENUE only & getting rid of all these scum ticket agencies who simply rip you off.

This will happen again as there is nothing to stop anyone setting up an illegal ticket site. And once the scammers have your money, tracking through the internet will almost impossible. All they have to do is close down the site, empty the bank account, move from any registered addresses (which would probably be fake anyway...) and bye bye...

RFFB wrote:

As good a reason as I've heard to go back to buying your tickets from the VENUE only & getting rid of all these scum ticket agencies who simply rip you off.

This will happen again as there is nothing to stop anyone setting up an illegal ticket site. And once the scammers have your money, tracking through the internet will almost impossible. All they have to do is close down the site, empty the bank account, move from any registered addresses (which would probably be fake anyway...) and bye bye...

Except I know for a fact that when tickets went on sale for the Manchester show touts were already in the queue. When the box office opened a transit van pulled up and a load of other touts (armed with credit cards and cash) joined their mates at the front of the queue to buy the tickets from the venue itself.

I think they need to sort out a medium in which people can buy them. The problem is, they want everything. They inflate ticket prices, and then they want to go through agencies to get commission. I can only see this ending with fans getting the bad end. In the end, they don't care about us. They only care about the money... so what can we expect.

wow that is really sad! Must be terrible for the fans, hee you all ready and excited for a show and poof its a bad ticket!
hope they can get it sorted out...

Pete wrote:

RFFB wrote:

As good a reason as I've heard to go back to buying your tickets from the VENUE only & getting rid of all these scum ticket agencies who simply rip you off.

This will happen again as there is nothing to stop anyone setting up an illegal ticket site. And once the scammers have your money, tracking through the internet will almost impossible. All they have to do is close down the site, empty the bank account, move from any registered addresses (which would probably be fake anyway...) and bye bye...

Except I know for a fact that when tickets went on sale for the Manchester show touts were already in the queue. When the box office opened a transit van pulled up and a load of other touts (armed with credit cards and cash) joined their mates at the front of the queue to buy the tickets from the venue itself.

May be so...but at least if you bought one of thier tickets they'd actually HAVE the ticket to give you. With internet sales, you could be asked to collect from the box office as in this case or be advised that tickets may not be sent until 7 - 10 days before the event. As TicketBastard do.

The scammer touts can simply take your money and run off with it. It's won't even be traceable, as once the scammers have emptied the account of cash (they'd be idiots to electronically transfer it!!) how do you find them? Hell, I can design basic web sites and with abit of further knowledge I'm sure I could integrate an 'off the shelf' credit card validation system.

And if I can do it...

RFFB wrote:

The scammer touts can simply take your money and run off with it. It's won't even be traceable, as once the scammers have emptied the account of cash (they'd be idiots to electronically transfer it!!) how do you find them? Hell, I can design basic web sites and with abit of further knowledge I'm sure I could integrate an 'off the shelf' credit card validation system.

And if I can do it...

Sounds good to Upscope....He's a little short in the pocket these days so let's get to work on this??

'Scope

RFFB wrote:

Pete wrote:

RFFB wrote:

As good a reason as I've heard to go back to buying your tickets from the VENUE only & getting rid of all these scum ticket agencies who simply rip you off.

This will happen again as there is nothing to stop anyone setting up an illegal ticket site. And once the scammers have your money, tracking through the internet will almost impossible. All they have to do is close down the site, empty the bank account, move from any registered addresses (which would probably be fake anyway...) and bye bye...

Except I know for a fact that when tickets went on sale for the Manchester show touts were already in the queue. When the box office opened a transit van pulled up and a load of other touts (armed with credit cards and cash) joined their mates at the front of the queue to buy the tickets from the venue itself.

May be so...but at least if you bought one of thier tickets they'd actually HAVE the ticket to give you. With internet sales, you could be asked to collect from the box office as in this case or be advised that tickets may not be sent until 7 - 10 days before the event. As TicketBastard do.

The scammer touts can simply take your money and run off with it. It's won't even be traceable, as once the scammers have emptied the account of cash (they'd be idiots to electronically transfer it!!) how do you find them? Hell, I can design basic web sites and with abit of further knowledge I'm sure I could integrate an 'off the shelf' credit card validation system.

And if I can do it...

The tout who turned up at the MEN bought whole blocks and then put them on ebay..

Pete wrote:

The tout who turned up at the MEN bought whole blocks and then put them on ebay..

Don't get me wrong...I HATE touts almost as much as I hate Ticketbastard. My point was simply at least touts usually have the goods! The internet is idea for scam touts. Like I think I said...I'm surprised this hasn't happened before and I'm sure will happen again.

It's a 'faceless' crime. Suppose the moral is only buy from known genuine n legit rip off merchants like Ticketbastard!!!!