Scammer steals World Series ticket via Instagram photo
Boston Red Sox fan Robbie Johnson, 28, was stopped from watching a game at Fenway Park when his US$650 ticket was discovered to have already been scanned.
Boston 25 News reported that earlier that day, the after-school instructor from Wellesley, Massachusetts had posted a photo of his ticket to show off on Instagram, leading to him making the account private following the incident.
“I went to ticket services and that’s where I was informed [the] ticket had been scanned at 5:09 p.m., a couple of hours before we got there,” Robbie told Boston 25 News.
He subsequently realized that the photo he had posted showed the barcode and the ticket number, which made it extremely easy for any scammer to duplicate the ticket.
This adds to a collection of stories involving online ticket fraud. Beverly Hills-based ticket sales and distribution company Ticketmaster has been cautioning users with the #CoverTheCode campaign, advising ticket owners not to include barcodes of both printed and mobile ticket in photos posted online.
Boston 25 News further reported that Johnson had to buy another ticket for US$450, but also discovered that whoever had stolen his original ticket, had never sat in his seat.
“There are people who will do these things, which is unfortunate,” Johnson said, “We were very excited about it, never been to a World Series [and it has] always been a lifelong dream of both of ours.”
Johnson attended the game with his sister.