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Potential Scam - need advice

S

Scarlet

Opposite Girl
On Sunday, while I was suffering through the BU - Yale game, I was scrolling thru Facebook. There was a post from a celebrity promoting his concert that I’m going to see tonight. I said See you in Boston! A woman responded to me saying she had meet and greet tickets, would I be interested and to DM her if so. I did. She told me how much, I was OK with the cost, she asked me if I could pay using Apple Pay or Zelle. I said no, I had Venmo. I also said I was at a game and it would have to wait till I was home.

On the 2+ hour drive home:
  • she gave me a friend’s Venmo for the initial payment, she asked for receipt to confirm payment to show the friend so the friend could give her the money
  • friend wasn’t around, she gave me a second Venmo account. Payment went thru, gave her the receipt. Gave her the email to send me the tickets
  • said she had to transfer the tickets to my name, didn’t realize there was a fee to do so. Could I send her a flat fee of $50, she would cover a little more. I said OK (yes, stupid I know). She gives me a different Venmo account as the person I initially sent to had exceeded number of transactions (is that even a thing?), let me get another friend’s account. She did, I tried to send it declined, I tried again, it went through. Meanwhile she’s messaging stuff like “are you there?” “Did you send it?”
  • Tells me, after I send the receipt, the guy’s Venmo account has been closed, he’s putting in to refund me my money, could take 2-3 days. Im finding another person to Venmo. She gives me yet another Venmo, I send the $50 again (and again, yes I know it’s stupid)
  • I start asking her, can you send me the tickets? She says it’s taking time to transfer. She then says it’s done, screenshots something that is absolutely not a confirmation and I have no email.
  • She then says oh wait, there is yet another fee, I need to send her $25 - probably easier to do via Apple Pay, I tell her again I’m not signing up for Apple Pay. Now I’m just about home. I say, I’ve sent you enough money. Send the passes to me and I’ll send you the money.
  • I finally get home, she’s like “have you signed up for Apple Pay?” I said I’m. It doing that, I also haven’t received the tickets. Crickets.
I reach out to Venmo, I have a chat with a rep. Send her the three transactions. She tells me they Venmo accounts looks like they were just created - RED FLAG - and she will submit the claim. I meanwhile have stopped contact with her. She reached out about four times, just to ask if I was there. I did not answer her.

Venmo got back to me saying there was nothing they could do as it appears the person didn’t fulfill the transaction. I was like duh, that’s why I reached out to you.

Anyway, I’m debating about responding to the person. Should I? I was thinking of saying something like “You never sent the passes like I asked. I was worried I was never going to receive them, and if I did I’m concerned they were fake.” I’m a little nervous about doing that. I was also thinking of calling my bank to see if there is anything they can do. I sent the money willingly though so I doubt it. Gah!! I hate being that stupid!!
 
Short of the the police, could you try reaching out to the celebrity or the concert promoter via Facebook or other means? Maybe they can do something, or the point of sale for the original tickets? The money is probably gone, but maybe it’ll stop other people from doing it? Oh, and I’d get another Venmo ID
 
Short of the the police, could you try reaching out to the celebrity or the concert promoter via Facebook or other means? Maybe they can do something, or the point of sale for the original tickets? The money is probably gone, but maybe it’ll stop other people from doing it? Oh, and I’d get another Venmo ID
 
Scarlet,

Unfortunately, it's like a 98% chance your cash is gone. Person to Person transactions are instant and money can't be returned. You should NEVER pay for any tickets wit things like CashApp, Zelle, Venmo, etc.

PayPal is the only one that is verifiable, and that is ONLY through their "Goods & Services" option. With that, the person paying needs to verify that they received the items before payment is released.

Also with regard to event tickets, ALWAYS buy direct or go through a verified resale broker (Stub Hub, VIVID Seats, Seat Geek, TicketMaster).
 
jericho said:
Short of the the police, could you try reaching out to the celebrity or the concert promoter via Facebook or other means? Maybe they can do something, or the point of sale for the original tickets? The money is probably gone, but maybe it’ll stop other people from doing it? Oh, and I’d get another Venmo ID
Click to expand...

OMG so earlier today I found the email of his tour director and emailed her to ask her if they were or were not doing meet and greets so I could use that info to go back to the scammer. I told her I knew it was stupid of me and if the money is gone so be it. She emailed me back two hours later, told me they were not doing meet and greets but told this celebrity musician (and actor, writer) and he agreed to meet me after the show!!! He was super nice and very pissed about the scam. I got a picture and two hugs!! OMG I’m dying! Well worth the money I lost.

OK, so, the celebrity musician/actor/writer is Shaun Cassidy. Who was my first celebrity crush from when I was 12. And for those of you who don’t know or could care less about his music, he’s also a writer and has written and produced some pretty good TV shows - American Gothic, Roar, New Amsterdam. The show itself was amazing and getting the chance to meet him after all that drama, well, I can get hit by a bus now and it would be fine. Best New Year’s ever!!!
 
jericho said:
Short of the the police, could you try reaching out to the celebrity or the concert promoter via Facebook or other means? Maybe they can do something, or the point of sale for the original tickets? The money is probably gone, but maybe it’ll stop other people from doing it? Oh, and I’d get another Venmo ID
Click to expand...

OMG so earlier today I found the email of his tour director and emailed her to ask her if they were or were not doing meet and greets so I could use that info to go back to the scammer. I told her I knew it was stupid of me and if the money is gone so be it. She emailed me back two hours later, told me they were not doing meet and greets but told this celebrity musician (and actor, writer) and he agreed to meet me after the show!!! He was super nice and very pissed about the scam. I got a picture and two hugs!! OMG I’m dying! Well worth the money I lost.

OK, so, the celebrity musician/actor/writer is Shaun Cassidy. Who was my first celebrity crush from when I was 12. And for those of you who don’t know or could care less about his music, he’s also a writer and has written and produced some pretty good TV shows - American Gothic, Roar, New Amsterdam. The show itself was amazing and getting the chance to meet him after all that drama, well, I can get hit by a bus now and it would be fine. Best New Year’s ever!!!
 
That’s wonderful Scarlet. Thanks for the updates I’m glad it all worked out that you got to meet him and that you helped other people at future concerts. I’m sure he was happy that you let them know what happened as well so they can put the word out. I’d email the scammer and say “Thanks for the passes, Shaun was so nice!” I bet the scammer will be *issed.
 
Scarlet said:
OMG so earlier today I found the email of his tour director and emailed her to ask her if they were or were not doing meet and greets so I could use that info to go back to the scammer. I told her I knew it was stupid of me and if the money is gone so be it. She emailed me back two hours later, told me they were not doing meet and greets but told this celebrity musician (and actor, writer) and he agreed to meet me after the show!!! He was super nice and very ****ed about the scam. I got a picture and two hugs!! OMG I’m dying! Well worth the money I lost.

OK, so, the celebrity musician/actor/writer is Shaun Cassidy. Who was my first celebrity crush from when I was 12. And for those of you who don’t know or could care less about his music, he’s also a writer and has written and produced some pretty good TV shows - American Gothic, Roar, New Amsterdam. The show itself was amazing and getting the chance to meet him after all that drama, well, I can get hit by a bus now and it would be fine. Best New Year’s ever!!!
Click to expand...

That is fantastic. So glad for you.
 
Scarlet said:
OMG so earlier today I found the email of his tour director and emailed her to ask her if they were or were not doing meet and greets so I could use that info to go back to the scammer. I told her I knew it was stupid of me and if the money is gone so be it. She emailed me back two hours later, told me they were not doing meet and greets but told this celebrity musician (and actor, writer) and he agreed to meet me after the show!!! He was super nice and very ****ed about the scam. I got a picture and two hugs!! OMG I’m dying! Well worth the money I lost.

OK, so, the celebrity musician/actor/writer is Shaun Cassidy. Who was my first celebrity crush from when I was 12. And for those of you who don’t know or could care less about his music, he’s also a writer and has written and produced some pretty good TV shows - American Gothic, Roar, New Amsterdam. The show itself was amazing and getting the chance to meet him after all that drama, well, I can get hit by a bus now and it would be fine. Best New Year’s ever!!!
Click to expand...

That’s awesome! Congratulations on getting it sorted out. It sounds like you just had an expensive lesson, but at least it’s all behind you now. In a similar situation, I’d normally reach out to my flare account customer service for advice. They’re usually pretty helpful and can offer guidance to avoid issues like this or even resolve them more efficiently. It might be worth considering for future situations—it’s always good to have a reliable resource to lean on when things get tricky.
 
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