Nickelback fan turns to Facebook, looking for tickets and gets scammed out of $300

A Conception Bay South woman just wanted to see Nickelback. Now she wants to see her $300 back.

Emma Walsh says she lost the money to a Facebook scammer while trying to buy tickets for the band's soldout Churchill Park Music Festival show Friday night for herself and her boyfriend.

"I was pretty PO'd about it," Walsh told CBC News. "That's over half of my paycheque. I'm only a part-time worker."

In search of tickets, Walsh joined a Facebook group calledChurchill Park Music Festival 2024 Tickets.

"I saw a bunch of mutual friends in it, there were over 2,000 people in it, so I was like, 'Oh, this is pretty legit," said Walsh.

She said she posted that she was looking for tickets and then a group administratorresponded, saying theycould sell her tickets. She said he seemed to be on the level.

"He had a profile picture, he had a cover photo, like he had like employment and stuff listed in his bio," she said.

The person asked for $240 for the tickets and said theyneeded an extra $60 for what they claimed was a "ticket transfer fee," totalling $300.

She sent the money, she said, but the tickets never arrived. Walsh tried messaging and calling the scammerbut they never answered. An hour later, Walsh says, she was banned from the group, which currently does not list the person who contacted her as a group admin. The group's listed admins have not responded for a request for comment.

She said her bank won't refund the money because it took place over an e-transfer. She also called the police, she said, who told her they get hundreds of calls like hers but would put her case on file.

Avoiding scams

Walsh said she wishes there were more measures in place to avoid ticket scams.

On Thursday, the Churchill Park Music Festival posted on Instagram and Facebook, warning of ticket resale scams.

"Please be cautious when buying resale tickets for our soldout shows," says the post, "Churchill Park Music Festival does not have a Facebook page offering resale of tickets."

The festival recommends buying tickets only from resale options verified by event management company Showpass or from someone trusted using a Showpass transfer. The post says the festival is not responsible for fake or unverified ticket sales.

Walsh wishes they'd posted the warning sooner, because people have been looking for resale tickets for a while.

"Tickets got sold out pretty fast. I got waitlisted instantly," said Walsh.

She recommends buying resale tickets in person or from someone you know and trust.

"Be smart, and don't buy stuff off of a Facebook group chat."

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