Vancouver Couple Charged with Selling "Hundreds" of Fake Concert Tickets

Published Jul 30, 2015

Earlier this month, British Columbia police issued a warning over fake tickets being sold to Pemberton Music Festival. Luckily, the province seems to have just gotten a little safer for ticker-buyers, since a Vancouver couple have been caught and charged with selling fake tickets to what police are calling "a significant number of people."The couple in question are Arielle Federation, aged 22, and Colin Richardson, aged 30; the former sometimes went by the names Alex, Alexandria or Jenny Donoghue, while the latter has gone by James Hunter. They are accused of creating fake tickets and selling them through Craigslist ads, and they are being charged with fraud and using forged documents; Federation is also being charged personation for using a stolen passport. They are being held in custody until their next court date.In addition with victims who have come forward, police believe that they are responsible for many more, as-yet-unreported crimes. They are asking anyone else who may have been duped by the couple to come forward. A statement from the Vancouver Police Department explains, "The tickets were all advertised for sale on Craigslist, and would-be purchasers made initial contact by e-mail and provided a cell number to the seller. Communication then continued through text messaging to arrange a place to meet and conduct the sale. The meeting places varied from street-side to other public places, and even the buyers' homes."Among the events they apparently sold tickets to were concerts including Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Sufjan Stevens, Mötley Crüe, Shania Twain, Marilyn Manson, Journey, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Dooms Night 2014, Bette Midler and more. They also sold tickets to Disneyland, sports events, and theatrical productions.As for how many people have been scammed since October of 2014, spokesman Constable Brian Montague told The Vancouver Sun , "Conservatively, you're looking at the hundreds."Read the police news release here