Fake Tickets and Bad Bunny’s Hottest Tour

By Ana Perez, 10th Grade

Urban artist Bad Bunny arrived in the Dominican Republic last Friday with Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour at the Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez. Both performances, on Friday and Saturday, were sold out. Many enjoyed the concert which featured pyrotechnics, immense scenography, and performances by Jhay Cortez, Jowell y Randy, Tockisha, Arcángel, and Toño Rosario.

However, not everyone was able to enjoy the concert, even after they paid for their tickets. Leidyn Bernárdez, a Dominican influencer, announced on Twitter that she was scammed when buying tickets for the concert. She bought her tickets digitally, expecting to receive them and enjoy the concert. However, she did not receive either the tickets or her money back. After the announcement, many others complained on Twitter about how they were scammed while trying to buy tickets for the show. She urged those who had bought tickets from Carlos Alvarez, a Uruguayan, to denounce him for theft and fraud. But he was not the only person to commit fraud with tickets for the concert. Venezuelans José Morales, Annel Rodrguez, and Reison González formed a fraud ring to sell tickets digitally. Of course, no one actually received them, since it was all just one big scam.

However, these types of scams are quite common. Selling fake tickets or selling tickets digitally and not delivering any are common scams that occur with most concerts, sports games, etc. But how do these scams work? As seen with Leidyn, you might buy your tickets digitally, only to not receive any and realize that your seller completely cut contact with you. In some cases, you might be told that a representative will be at the venue on the day of the event, only to find that nobody showed up. In some cases, which happened at the Bad Bunny concert, you might receive tickets, only to be told that these tickets are fake and that you cannot enter the event. And the moment you try to contact the seller, you’ll learn that they have completely cut contact with you. It’s quite simple for scammers to set up websites that look similar to real ones – in this day and age, you only need basic knowledge of web design. This is why these ticket scams are relatively common. However, there are people that buy tickets just to sell them at a higher price. These are not scams, since these are resells.

In order to protect yourself from these scams, check the official sites or social media to see how tickets are distributed. On social media sites such as Twitter, check if the account is verified – if it isn’t, chances are it’s fake. Then, check where the company’s office is located and whether they have a proper address instead of a PO box. Now, you need to make sure there’s no adverse criticism of the company. The fact that the company is official does not mean that you will receive your tickets. Companies are still able to commit these ticket scams. Remember to read the Terms and Conditions of the site, since some sites clearly state that there are no refunds. So, if you get scammed, you won’t receive your money, and it’d be on you for not revising the terms and conditions. Check the payment pages are secure by looking for a padlock symbol in the address bar, and making sure the website address begins with ‘https.’ If the price for the ticket is significantly lower than the price in other sites, chances are it’s a scam. If it seems too good to be true, chances are that it is too good to be true. Sometimes, if there are no tickets available on official sites, it’s better to wait until more tickets are available on them. It’s safer to buy official tickets than resells, since you never know if these are scams.

Ticket scams will happen for almost every event, and it’s important to protect yourself (and your money) from them. Try to buy your tickets from official sites and if they are sold out, then try to wait until more tickets are available. Most of the time, it’s much safer for you and your wallet to wait. And if you think it’s too good to be true, chances are, it’s because it is.

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