– When the seller blocked me, I thought; “Am I really that stupid?” Says Jakob. Today, the sold-out festival Palmesus starts at Bystranda in Kristiansand. Like many others, Jakob searched for tickets on Facebook. Many of the profiles that claimed to be sold were obviously fake. But “Julie” from Bergen seemed to be an ordinary lady. Finally he found someone he could trust. They chatted back and forth and Jakob bought festival passes. Here is an excerpt from their conversation on Messenger. The user has used both false name and image. But the relief quickly turned to despair. “Julie” did not exist. He was blocked and the money was gone. – She had even posted a story on Facebook the same day where she was on a trip to Fløyen in Bergen, says Jakob. When he realized he was the victim of fraud, it was too late. The money had already been sent. – 2,400 kroner is not a lot of money, but I am a student so I notice it, he says resignedly. Problem on social media – When the demand is so great and we are sold out, it leads to a lot of sales via channels other than Ticketmaster, says general manager of Palmesus, Leif Fosselie. He says they are now experiencing an increase in robot pages and fake profiles pretending to be ticket sellers on social media. Several people news has talked to say that they have been scammed by various profiles on the Facebook page “Buying and selling palmsus tickets 2022”. Leif Fosselie is head of Palmesus at Bystranda in Kristiansand. Photo: Palmesus According to Fosselie, they have sold more tickets than ever. Then the risk of being scammed is also greater. Prohibited on selling on Finn.no Four years ago, Finn.no was forced to ban the resale of tickets. – 140,000 people searched for Palmesus tickets on Finn in 2018, but only 400 had tickets for sale. It opens the door for those who want to take advantage of the situation, says the festival director. Finn.no also notices an increased demand for tickets to cultural events now, compared to before the pandemic, says Geir Petter Gjefsen. He is head of user safety at Finn.no and talks about an increasing risk of fraud. – When it comes to cultural events, both fraud and the black market are things that make us ban ticket sales to a number of popular events, says Gjefsen. According to the organizers, the demand for Palmesus tickets has never been greater than this year. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB More cunning – Anyone can learn the tools to cheat online. This lowers the threshold. This is what Johan van Niekerk, professor of cyber security at the Noroff School of Technology and Digital Media in Kristiansand, says. The professor believes it is easier than ever to scam online. According to van Niekerk, they see an increase in online fraud, and notice that the fraudsters have become more cunning. He also warns about fake event pages that are virtually identical to the originals. van Niekerk warns against buying tickets on channels other than the official players. Photo: Hans Erik Weiby / news Several festivals experience fraud – We have chosen to close the possibility of selling tickets at our event for that reason. It should not be a place where potential scammers can keep up, says festival director for Vinjerock, Sigrid Skjerdal According to the organizers, Vinjerock is sold out every single year. Skjerdal believes many are willing to go to great lengths to obtain tickets. news has been in contact with several festivals in Norway. Everyone confirms that ticket fraud is a persistent problem. – There have been cases of fraud in the past, it is especially events that have been sold out for a long time that have been postponed, says festival director for Bergenfest, Frank Nes. Nes says they are trying to make the public aware that there may be fake tickets in circulation through social media and other platforms, and encourages the public to only buy tickets from people they know. Several organizers are calling for a safe way to resell tickets. – We have wanted this for several years. A way to transfer tickets in a safe way, for example through Ticketmaster, says Skjerdal in Vinjerock. The organizers of Vinjerock hope there will be a safe solution for resale of tickets. Photo: Sigrid Skjerdal Abandoned by the police After the incident, Jakob decided to report the case. The case was dropped after three days due to lack of capacity. – I have the account number and the name of the bank so in my opinion they just need to look up the account number, says Jakob disappointed. Jakob sees the incident as a lesson. Now Jakob has finally succeeded in getting a real ticket. – I’m really looking forward to the festival. Many of my friends are going there. This will probably be in the back of my mind, but I’ll probably get over it eventually. How to avoid being cheated Do not buy tickets from an unofficial source. On the organizer’s website you will find information on where the tickets can be bought, and how much they cost. The Black Stock Exchange Act prohibits the resale of tickets at a higher price than the organizer has set, and gives the buyer the right to demand what they have paid above the nominal price back from the seller. Most tickets bought online are print-yourself. This means that if you buy from an unofficial source, this can in the worst case be a copy of a ticket someone else will also use If you buy tickets from a third party, buy from someone you trust If you choose to buy tickets in the secondary market, you should pay by credit card. If you pay in cash or by transferring money to the seller’s bank account, you are much weaker in the event of non-delivery and fraud Source: Slottsfjellfestivalen and Forbrukerombudet
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Several are scammed for festival tickets – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
