Share and Follow
A FATHER realized too late that he fell for a ticketing scam, costing him hundreds – now he’s warning others.
Scott Eberhart is still frustrated after learning the resale tickets he bought for a concert as a gift to his daughter were fraudulent.
The Better Business Bureau issued a warning about ticket scams but Eberhart wasn’t aware when he drove his daughter and her friend to the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago this past weekend.
“Beyond livid,” he told CBS News.
Eberhart didn’t realize it was a ruse until his daughter’s tickets were scanned.
“When she got to the scanner, they said they were invalid; they were fake tickets,” he explained.
However, Eberhart paid $295.95 for the tickets using StubHub back in November as a Christmas gift.
It was supposed to be her first concert to see her favorite artist, Mitski.
“There was an usher walking up and down explaining to everybody that StubHub had invalidated a bunch of tickets that were improperly released,” said Eberhart.
His daughter was upset and the father was embarrassed.
“I was prepared to bribe the security. I was prepared to cause a distraction and break the glass,” he said.
“She was getting in.”
Thankfully, the concert wasn’t sold out and Eberthart found himself buying tickets from the box office.
“So I was forced to buy more tickets to a concert that had already bought tickets to,” he said.
The father said he bought the first tickets using the ticketing website, StubHub, receiving the tickets electronically.
“I’m not thrilled with the idea of e-tickets, to be honest, if they’re that easy to scam,” he said.
He tried to get his money back for the first tickets, however, he received a message saying that the event already passed – so he couldn’t get a refund.
But when Eberhart said that he was going to the media, “they managed to get me a refund by the end of the day today.”
WATCH OUT
The BBB is warning anyone buying an event ticket – whether it’s for a comedy show, a concert, or a sporting event – to be alert for fake ticket scams.
“So we’ve seen scammers increasing each and every year,” said Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois President Steve Bernas.
The BBB said scam activity is rising and it’s affecting legitimate sales.
I was prepared to bribe the security. I was prepared to cause a distraction and break the glass
Scott Eberhart
“There’s a lot of sites that make it look like they’re a legitimate ticket broker when they’re not,” said Bernas.
“They’re just copying and pasting the graphics.”
He recommends using a credit card instead of a debit card when buying tickets.
If the tickets are fake, the credit card company can be asked to fight the charge.
Now that his money has been returned, Eberhart said he’s thankful the BBB is spreading awareness.
“It’s nice to know, you know, that somebody’s paying attention to this, and hopefully, the problem will get fixed,” he said.
StubHub said in a statement that it is investigating the incident, revealing that 18 customers were affected by the same ticket cancellations Eberhart faced.
