‘Fraud’ warning for Istanbul concert tickets

ISTANBUL

Tickets for the concert that the metal band Megadeth will perform in Istanbul on June 12 after eight years were sold out within minutes. Again, tickets for another famous band, Scorpions, to be organized on May 23, were also sold out. Now tickets for the two concerts have been put on the black market on various domestic and foreign websites at nearly 10 times the original price.

As the tickets have sold out quickly, music lovers react against the situation on social media.

While the standard price for the Megadeth concert was 792 Turkish Liras, it is sold for 5,500 liras online, while the VIP tickets, which are 2,750 liras, are sold for between 25,000 – 30,000 liras.

It is also seen on the websites that tickets for Scorpions, which were officially sold between 1,350 and 13,000 liras, were put on sale for a price of up to 10 times these amounts.

On another website, it is seen that the seller offers a 13,000 lira-VIP ticket for Scorpions concert for 85,397 liras.

Consumer Confederation President Aydın Ağaoğlu and lawyer Fevzi Doğan warned of “black-marketeering” and “fraud” in concert tickets sold on the internet.

Ağaoğlu stated that a black-market crime occurs with purchases, and that a criminal complaint should be filed against suspicious sellers.

“A VIP concert ticket of a world-renowned rock band was sold for 2,500 liras and it was sold out. Now the same ticket is sold for 25-30,000 liras online. Black marketeering is a crime. People sell on the Internet without fear. We need to pay attention to them. There is also a risk of fraud here. Scammers also place advertisements on some websites. People, who want to buy tickets from them, may lose their money. Because IP addresses of some of these websites are from abroad. Public authorities need to make the investigations regarding this matter,” Ağaoğlu said.

Lawyer Doğan said, “Yes, this is a crime, it is a type of crime popularly known as black-marketeering or stockpiling. How can people report this? Let's say you had to buy a ticket on the black-market and later regretted it. You can immediately apply to the nearest prosecutor's office and file a complaint against these people. You must return these tickets to the copyright owner. Because these tickets are produced to be sold specifically for that concert, you also cause damage to the copyright owner. This a crime both ethically and judicially.”

‘We laugh at these conspiracy theories’

Vera Music, the organizer of the Megadeth concert, made a statement about the allegations regarding black-marketeering and the method of selling tickets.

“Our initial investigations show that there is no suspicious activity. In a short period of time when the pre-sale limitation was not active, only 10 people purchased more than 10 tickets, and the total number of tickets purchased by these people was 181. You can report black-market tickets you see on social media or ad sites. We will file a criminal complaint. All tickets for this concert were sold and will never be put on sale again. We are surprised and laugh at conspiracy theories about the concert.”