The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is asking patrons to avoid third-party sites after record levels of ticket fraud.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is urging patrons to buy tickets on its website or at the box office after it lost $10,000 to online ticket scammers during a recent run. Nutcracker.

According to RWB spokeswoman Jocelyn Unrau, criminals used stolen credit card numbers to purchase tickets and then sold them to unwitting customers through online resale platforms.

“Fortunately, we were able to manage everything, and we never turned anyone away,” he said.

“But I think it's been known that sometimes when you buy from third-party sites, the tickets are no longer valid or there are two people in one seat.”

He says the problem is getting so bad that the ballet is now reserving blocks of seats so those who bought illegal tickets can still attend the show.

But he said the philanthropy would cost RWB a “huge financial loss” because it receives no revenue from the locations, and credit card companies send them “transfer fees” to cover the thefts.

According to Unrau, the $10,000 bills represent a record number of reimbursements for the world-renowned dance company.

He said some sales were even seen on a fake website called winnipegnutcracker.org, which is now offline.

“It's really hard for arts organizations that are struggling to meet our budget,” Unrau said.

According to Unrau, RWB is trying to take steps to discourage fake tickets and help third-party platforms identify criminal accounts.

But the ballet is also asking patrons to purchase tickets locally.

“Winnipeg is really fortunate to have so many arts organizations that have their own box office,” said Unrau, adding that buying directly from these groups creates local jobs and offers a higher level of customer service.

“If possible, go to the websites of the organizations and buy the tickets directly from them, they will be valid and you will get the best price.”

A growing problem

Technology expert Carmi Levy said online fraud using stolen credit card numbers is common.

“The criminal element is getting better at using technology to their advantage,” he said.

“There is a certain window between the time when stolen card numbers are reported and when you can stop making purchases on that account,” Levy said.

“A thief would take advantage of this and quickly go to a concert website, buy an entire block of tickets and then resell them for a profit.”

According to him, most of the bills are left by sellers and customers.

“It's a case of everyone pointing fingers at everyone else and trying to make everyone else pay,” Levy continued.

“Certainly, the financial services industry, especially credit card companies and payment processors, can and should do more to protect their platforms from this type of fraud,” he said.

A spokesperson for RWB did not know exactly which third-party sellers were involved in selling the stolen credit card tickets. NutcrackerOnline ticket seller Eventbrite said it tries to prevent such crimes.

“Our platform allows anyone to create an event, and we have a dedicated team that actively monitors fraud,” said an Eventbrite spokesperson.

“We take unauthorized sales very seriously and our policy is to remove story creators and their stories when we become aware of them.”

In addition, Levy said that art organizations should also be active.

“They need to sit down with a professional to ensure their IT infrastructure is resilient to such incidents,” he said, adding that arts groups should regularly scan the internet to protect themselves from impersonating sites. to sell tickets.

On the customer side, Levy said that while financial information may be compromised in a security breach, consumers can take steps to better protect their credit cards by avoiding storing numbers online and by not taking pictures of their cards, as those images can be expired. online.

“You should treat your credit card number like gold in Fort Knox,” he said.