After scoring tickets to Game 2 of the World Series, a Boston Red Sox fan excitedly posted a photo of the tickets to Instagram – setting up the perfect opportunity for a ticket scammer.
A 28-year-old after-school instructor from Wellesley, Massachusetts, Robbie Johnson, received tickets to Wednesday’s game at Fenway Park from his family. He didn’t think about the repercussions of posting a picture of his tickets to Instagram, so when he showed up to the game with his sister and the $650 tickets didn’t scan, he was confused.
“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,” Johnson told Boston 25 News.
A ticket scammer reportedly duplicated Johnson’s ticket after viewing the Instagram post – which included the ticket’s barcode and unique ticket number. Someone had taken this information and created their own ticket to enter the game for free, and reportedly didn’t even sit in the ticket’s seat. Although Johnson had to pay an addition $450 for an extra ticket, he still ended up getting to see the game.
“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.”
Ace Tickets Community Outreach Manager April Martin said that the company has been warning customers about this theft, and it’s important to cover the ticket’s barcode and seating location if you’re going to post a picture.
