Events as local as community teen discos in the county are being targeted by internet fraudsters eager to rob punters looking for scarce last minute tickets.
This week’s meeting of the Joint Policing Committee of Galway County Council was told that events such as a recent local teen disco in a Galway village were targeted by scamsters taking advantage of the desperation for must-have tickets.
Teen discos are a valuable source of fundraising for local community clubs in the county, but it seems that heartless fraudsters have the same idea and are looking to lure teens or their parents into purchasing tickets that in most cases do not exist.
The full extent of the problem is not yet known as many victims are too embarrassed to reveal that they have been scammed, but it is believed that already, many families have lost money online which they handed over in the belief they were buying a scarce ticket for their son or daughter.
One parent told The Advertiser that she was embarrassed at having been caught out.
“Tickets for the recent event sell out in double quick time, and I hadn’t bought them for my kids, so I foolishly saw someone online offering them for sale.
“I should have been more wary given the demand for tickets but never thought that scams woukld operate for such a local event. I bought two tickets from what seemed a straightforward person online, but the tickets never materialised and my money was gone,” she said.
Galway county councillor Karey McHugh told the JPC meeting that many false social media profiles are set up with peopleclaiming to have tickets for this particular gig.
“The level of detail they are going into is stunning and they are so convincing. If you are looking for tickets online, make sure you don’t fall fior it.
“For that recent disco, five or six false profiles were set up on this common thread offering tickets. and it is very concerning. It shows the level of sophistication that these fraudsters are now going to,” she said.
In response, Supt Damien Flanagan said that online fraud is nothing now, in particular at this time of the year when many big concerts are scheduled.
However, the localised nature is a new development, and he said that they will be definitely be warning people.
“People need to be very careful about where they are ordering their tickets,” he said.
