10 hours ago
Joanne McNally reveals she was scammed out of Glastonbury tickets - and how to avoid similar fate
Joanne McNally has revealed that she and others were scammed out of thousands of pounds when they tried to buy Glastonbury tickets, that turned out to be fake.
Thousands of music lovers are heading to Worthy Farm in Somerset for the biggest festival of the year, with Joanne saying that she used a concierge service to try to get the tickets. However, the 'concierge' bounced after receiving the money from both Joanne and 49 others, disappearing 'to Spain' and leaving the fans out of pocket.
'Glastonbury update. The guy I bought a ticket off said it'd be there by 6. 'If it's not there by 6 ring me,' Joanne told her Instagram. 'No sign of the ticket. We're ringing him, we're blocked. He is gone. The money is gone. There is no ticket. We were robbed. And obviously it wasn't cheap because it was Glastonbury and it's a once in a lifetime experience.' Thousands of music lovers are heading to Worthy Farm in Somerset for the biggest festival of the year. Pic:'It's so weird because some people did get their tickets off him. A load of us didn't get our tickets from him, apparently it's like 50 of us. So he took a couple of grand off 50 people and he's now in Spain or something.'
Despite the scam, Joanne managed to get sorted with a ticket — telling her followers that she was updating them from a festival toilet 'which could only mean one thing — I got a ticket. The festival gods have been good to me.
'I can access my teepee, which was going to sit there vacant for the whole weekend… so see you at Glastonbury!' Joanne McNally has revealed that she and others were scammed out of thousands of pounds when they tried to buy bogus Glastonbury tickets. Pic: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/REX/Shutterstock
Alas, where there's demand for concerts there are always going to be a few chancers who will sell 'tickets' to the gig you're desperate to go to, only to have blocked your number and fled the country with your money.
And while touting has been outlawed in Ireland, some people can still get burned, with Ticketmaster releasing advice on how to not get scammed.
ONLY BUY FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES: Glastonbury takes place this week. Pic: Samir Hussein/WireImage
With any event, there will definitely be scammers who will try and chance their arm and get your money. Ticketing agents such as Ticketmaster are where most concert tickets will be sold, but checking out the artist you're hoping to see's website where they'll tell you where to buy the tickets.
It's also advised that you avoid buying tickets from individuals on social media or unofficial platforms.
DON'T BUY BEFORE THE TICKETS GO ON SALE:
While promoters and mobile networks will have special pre-sales in the 24-48 hours before the general ticket sale, some people may also try and say that they have tickets for sale. Going through promoters such as MCD, or through 3 if the gig is in the 3Arena/3Olympia, where they host regular pre-sales, will be safe though.
ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK YOUR URL:
When buying tickets online such as via Ticketmaster, it's becoming easier to clone sites — websites that look like Ticketmaster, but not actually Ticketmaster.
It's important to use the ticket merchants' official website, or official apps such as Ticketmaster's, Eventbrite's, etc.
BE WARY OF PRINTED TICKETS
While some people may yearn for the glory days of printed tickets, mobile tickets (while less cool) are safer, as scammers can distribute copies of the same tickets to unsuspecting victims if they're printed.
The unique barcodes on the Ticketmaster mobile tickets refresh every 15 seconds, which help prevent theft/copies and keep your tickets safe.
