Something a little different for you all today, and it is regarding a VERY serious issue that has been highlighted more so today; and that is ticket touts and scammers claiming to have sought after tickets.

In our lives as avid music fans, we have probably experienced the heart ache of not getting your hands on tickets to see a show that is either a one off, or in VERY HIGH DEMAND (MCR tick all the boxes for the issues in this post).

With that in mind, people are using this as a way to make CRAZY amounts of money, and more often than not, fans will end up out of pocket, AND without the tickets they paid more than face value for; or the chance to get their money back.

This is becoming more and more of an issue. After purchasing a legit ticket, Em took it into her own hands to look into the world of lucrative scamming over sites such as Facebook for one show in question; the My Chemical Romance UK Reunion show (granted it turned into two shows, but for the purpose of this post, specifically we are focusing on the first show).

Above are some screen shots which have been accumulated in the past TEN MINUTES, and they feature names of known scammers who are operating in the My Chemical Romance UK Show Facebook event.

It is hard to say exactly who ALL of the scammers are, however we wanted to publish this article so you guys can not only have a refresher on buying tickets safely online, but also so we can raise awareness around people who think it is okay to take advantage of music fans.

Em took this whole situation slightly personally, as she has been a MCR fan for as long as she can remember, and despite managing to get her ticket from a reputable ticket site, she is devastated to think that people who may relate to the band in similar ways that she does, have been taken as a mug. As you can see from the Myspace era photo above, Em really was going through some times when she was 14 (slight diversion, but we need to remember how ICONIC Em’s look was).

TOP TIPS FOR WHEN YOU FIND OUT THAT YOUR FAVOURITE BAND IS COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU – BUT THERE WILL BE HIGH DEMAND FOR TICKETS

First point of call – use legitimate ticket sites such as See Tickets and Gigs and Tours (Em’s favourite) as soon as the tickets are released to the public. Do your research – find out if there are any pre-sales. There could be O2 priority, band fan club pre-sales, American Express priority etc. Bagging your tickets before the general sale if definitely peace of mind if anything. Make sure you have logins for above mentioned reliable ticket sites – this will help when you’re flustered and trying to order your tickets as quick as humanly possible. If there is a chance you’re unable to attend, buyers protection can be applied for a fee. This ensures peace of mind, as well as a money back guarantee should anything come up. If you are lucky enough to get tickets, DO NOT POST FULL PHOTOS OF THEM ONLINE. Make sure key information is covered/not in view – eg: barcodes, order number, names etc. This could be the difference between having a valid ticket and someone tampering with it and it becoming void. Have an E-Ticket? Make sure it is marked as important in your emails. Also, save a PDF to your laptop/computer should anything happen to your email account. If something does occur with your emails and you can’t access them, contact the ticket supplier, and they can intervene if you are concerned with losing your ticket. ALWAYS take ID to a show. Biffy did it one time, tickets had names printed on the ticket, and if you didn’t have matching ID, you didn’t go into the venue. This is in effort to eliminate touting – another issue that will unfortunately always remain an issue (especially with the high demand shows).

Now onto the next step, and definitely the most important granted the nature of this article..

TOP TIPS FOR WHEN YOU’RE LOOKING FOR TICKETS FOR A SOLD OUT / SOUGHT AFTER SHOW:

Twickets. It is a platform where people advertise legit tickets for concerts that are for sale due to the sellers circumstances changing. There’s a catch with this however (a good catch), all tickets can ONLY BE SOLD AT FACE VALUE. This is a very beneficial platform, and should always be monitored if you are looking for face value tickets for shows. Keep an eye on the event pages on Facebook. People often advertise tickets for sale here. But, be cautious. When messaging someone regarding a ticket they are selling, NEVER HAND OVER MONEY THROUGH PAYPAL FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Even if there are no tickets to be sold, if you pay F&F, kiss your money goodbye. Always pay using Goods and Services. We also do not recommend bank transfer as it can be tedious to appeal for your money back. Chat to the seller. Ask them about the band. Ask them why they are selling the tickets. ASK THEM WHERE ABOUTS IN THE WORLD THEY ARE. With regards to asking where in the world someone is, have a look through their photos. See if there are any signs that the person may or may not be where they say they are; this could include landmarks in photos, street signs, weather etc. Does their profile seem very last minute? Many scammers have burner accounts, and they are created for the sole purpose of scamming people. Main tell tale signs are profile pictures added hours ago, very little on the profile, and any other photos added the exact same time as the profile picture. Reverse search images from someones profile to see if they may have been taken from somewhere else to shield identity (this is very catfish and somewhat obsessive, but if you really want a ticket, you surely want to know that you’re buying them from someone who is legit, right?!)

It breaks our hearts to post this, but unfortunately, for as long as there are live shows, there is always going to be at least one person who tries to make a quick buck from desperate people.

If you have had an encounter with a scammer regarding My Chemical Romance tickets, drop us an email over at crowdsurfonline@hotmail.com to let us know the story.