A Craigslist scammer has left at least one North Vancouver teenager empty handed after successfully pawning off phony tickets for One Direction's July 27 concert at Rogers Arena.
After exchanging emails, North Vancouver mother Shawna Baker met with the seller at Pacific Centre mall in the hopes of scoring tickets on behalf of her teenage daughter.
"Her wall is full of their pictures and she's got a big stand-up poster," Baker said.
The asking price of $650 for two tickets seemed steep, but Baker's daughter sold her Taylor Swift tickets in the hopes of raising enough cash to catch the English quintet's pop stylings live and in person.
The vendor, a teenage girl with long black hair, told Baker the money from the ticket sale was going toward a family trip to Honduras.
Baker compared the tickets with passes from other shows. She noted a bar code, sponsorship information, and a disclaimer.
"She seemed very genuine and sweet, and I said to my husband right after we left, 'They're too young to be scammers,'" Baker said.
She took the tickets home and eventually discovered the subterfuge after reading a Province article about event codes on fraudulent tickets.
"I had to look at them three times just to make sure," she said. "Sure enough, the event code was the same (as the one) the other girl had identified."
She also noted the receipt carried a 2013 purchase date, despite the concert being soldout since 2012.
While the situation isn't quite as heart wrenching as One Direction's ballad "I Wish," it's nonetheless disappointing, Baker said.
"She sold her Taylor Swift tickets to buy these ones instead, so she's kind of lost out on two concerts," Baker said. "She hasn't cried, though."
Vancouver Police recently arrested a 16-year-old for selling fake One Direction tickets.
"From what I got from the description, it sounds the same," Baker said.
Baker's daughter is planning to keep the counterfeit tickets as memorabilia, but still hoping to make it to the show.
"I've entered her in a contest on The Beat," Baker said. "I haven't decided myself if we're going to fork up more money for her to go."
The fleecing will likely keep Baker from buying on Craigslist again, she said.
"It just baffles me. Someone else must have printed the tickets. I don't think they would be sophisticated enough to operate that kind of ring."
