A Calgary man recently got scammed by a bogus broker for big bucks while trying to catch tickets for a big game.
Online scammers are getting savvier as more and more people hop on the Internet to buy tickets for concerts and sporting events.
Adam Burton wanted four tickets to the Flames home opener a week and a half ago so he posted a "tickets wanted" ad on kijiji.
He got a call from a man who claimed to be a ticket broker with StubHub, an online ticket seller.
The caller said he would sell four prime tickets for $600.
"He knew his rows and his seats and he knew his hockey,” said Burton.
The broker said he couldn’t process credit cards and told Burton to pay with Ukash.
Ukash is essentially electronic cash and here’s how it works:
- The sender goes to a Ukash outlet and exchanges cash for a voucher number.
- The sender then gives the payee the voucher number and they get their money from Ukash.
Burton gave the faux broker his Ukash voucher numbers worth $600 and the broker said he would email four etickets.
He didn't send the tickets and then the scam got worse.
The broker claimed that the Ukash processors were down so he told Burton he needed to buy $600 in prepaid Vanilla VISAs from Shoppers Drug Mart in order to pay for the tickets.
Burton did as he was told and essentially ended up paying for the tickets twice without getting anything in return.
"I thought I could see the signs if someone was trying to do this to me but throughout this whole process, unless you're actually in it, it's hard to explain how well they can get you to believe what it is that they're trying to do," said Burton.
CTV Consumer Specialist Lea Williams-Doherty got involved and in an email StubHub told her, "We are aware of the situation and are currently working with law enforcement officials to aid in their investigation."
The Calgary Police Service confirmed it is now investigating this and several other incidents like it in the city.
