Fraudsters make $10,000 in Royal Winnipeg Ballet scam – Winnipeg

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet makes $10,000 in annual online scams. Nutcracker production.

RWB says fraudsters used stolen credit cards to buy tickets to a popular holiday event and then resold the tickets on third-party sites.

The crooks then fled with the cash, and the ballet lost the ticket money, which was returned to the owners of the stolen cards.

RWB spokeswoman Jocelyn Unrau told 680 CJOB Add Winnipeg buying from third-party sites may seem like a good deal, but it's always best to buy from the ballet's own cashier to avoid the possibility of fraud.

“We caution people to be careful when purchasing tickets online,” Unrau said.

“The RWB, along with several other arts organizations … are fortunate to be able to operate our own booths, which allows us to provide a high level of personal service to clients while also employing local people in Winnipeg and Manitoba.”

According to Unrau, third-party sellers often appear before the organizations themselves in online search results, and prospective customers should take a few extra seconds to make sure they're buying from a legitimate source.

“If possible, go a little further before you buy tickets and make sure you get them directly from the organizations.”

Tech analyst Carmi Levy says these types of scams aren't new, but in these cases, criminals are improving their skills to trick consumers.

“It's certainly becoming more widespread. We're seeing a lot of that,” Levy told 680 CJOB The Jim Toth Show.

“The technology that cybercriminals are using to make us believe we're working with a legitimate ticketing organization, when in fact they're not — they're getting better tools, they're improving their nefarious criminal activities.

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“The result is that if you're a consumer and you want to go to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet or a Jets game — whatever you want to see — it's getting harder and harder to distinguish between a legitimate place to shop. (tickets) and illegal place”.

In tough economic times, Levy said, everyone is looking for a deal, but the old adage still holds true today: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

While third-party sellers are adept at disguising their websites as legitimate, diligent consumers can pull off a scam.

“Make sure you know who you're joining and where you're buying from,” Levy said. “It's not another website, it's not a Facebook marketplace, it's not eBay, it's not a link that someone on social media tells me can get a screaming deal on a ticket… Third-party options from our vocabulary here.

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