Craigslist U2 Ticket Scam (Using Western Union)

[AughrimFurey]

There is a guy on Craigslist that has posts for MSG seats on 5/21 and Boston GA's for 5/28. He is using the email address mikeupU2@yahoo.com. He is going by the name Mike Blan (at least he did with me). He is using the Western Union "test question" scam by making you think your money is safe until you get your tickets; a pseudo Escrow.

Don't fall for it - he claims he lives in Lake Tahoe, CA but is actually is Southern CA. He is picking up the Western Union money via an Western Union ATM in Tustin, CA.

Do not fall for this scam. Feel free to blast his email address. I am, also, going to post this on the U2 Zootopia boards.

Jeremy

 

[regularguy]

Good advice in general:

Never never never pay for anything from someone you don't know using western union.

On ebay and elsewhere, western union is basically as euphamism for "scam."

Might there be some good sellers who use western union? Perhaps. But always ask if they'll consider paypal instead. If they say no, move on.

 

[trojanchick99]

Dude. That sucks. Did you lose your money? Craigslist is shady.

 

[mikal]

Good advice in general:

Never never never pay for anything from someone you don't know using western union.

On ebay and elsewhere, western union is basically as euphamism for "scam."

Might there be some good sellers who use western union? Perhaps. But always ask if they'll consider paypal instead. If they say no, move on.

i work for a company that uses WU as a form of payment, and it works fine. it's a great method for our customers who don't have a credit card, but don't want to wait forever for us to recieve their check. on very rare occasions, a customer's payment sometimes gets lost in transmission, but if they keep their receipt of payment, we honor their payment no matter what.

 

[AughrimFurey]

I did lose money, but I got it back. Western Union messed up in the transaction so they were partly at fault. They admitted their mistake and refunded all of my money. I was VERY lucky. It was a dumb mistake, but I learned the hard way.

 

[mikal]

I did lose money, but I got it back. Western Union messed up in the transaction so they were partly at fault. They admitted their mistake and refunded all of my money. I was VERY lucky. It was a dumb mistake, but I learned the hard way.

but if WU messed up on the transaction, then are you sure Craigslist actually scammed you? maybe WU's screw up didn't get him the money, in turn he cancelled the order.

just curious.

 

[AughrimFurey]

Nope, WU confirmed that the money was paid out to the person claiming to be Mike Blan at an Western Union machine in Tustin, CA. He has the money.

WU screwed up by not accurately confirming his identity and asking the "test question". I asked them to not only confirm the idenity, but to lock the transaction if the "test question" was not answered. They did not do this, and many times they don't. If I had not called their fraud department many times and file a claim, this guy would have his $$ and I would be out my $$. Now, he has the money sent and WU is refunding me b/c of their mistake. The rep told me they rarely, if ever, refund $$ for this type of situation but they messed up so they will.

 

[mikal]

Nope, WU confirmed that the money was paid out to the person claiming to be Mike Blan at an Western Union machine in Tustin, CA. He has the money.

WU screwed up by not accurately confirming his identity and asking the "test question". I asked them to not only confirm the idenity, but to lock the transaction if the "test question" was not answered. They did not do this, and many times they don't. If I had not called their fraud department many times and file a claim, this guy would have his $$ and I would be out my $$. Now, he has the money sent and WU is refunding me b/c of their mistake. The rep told me they rarely, if ever, refund $$ for this type of situation but they messed up so they will.

ah. ok. that makes sense.

i'm sorry that happened to you. hopefully you'll still be able to get a ticket.

 

[regularguy]

i work for a company that uses WU as a form of payment, and it works fine. it's a great method for our customers who don't have a credit card, but don't want to wait forever for us to recieve their check. on very rare occasions, a customer's payment sometimes gets lost in transmission, but if they keep their receipt of payment, we honor their payment no matter what.

If you're an established company whose bona fides can be checked, that's fine.

And if you're a customer that has no other option, I guess you have no choice.

But for us buyers who do have other options and encounter SELLERS that insist on Western Union, there is simply absolutely no reason not to move on. No matter how high demand you think a ticket is, tickets are always like busses -- there's always another one on the way.

 

[zoo99]

Some one from Californa tried this on me as well except it was a female (or so they said) after they tried to get me to do the secret question Western Union thing and the fact that the msg/may21 ga's they were selling were only 150 each I decided not to bite, if you check out western unions site they even tell you never to do the secret question thing with a stranger.

 

[xtihn]

craigslist gives you warnings about scammers using western union. as a general rule, i wouldn't trust anyone asking for payment via western union.

in general, if an offer is too good to be true, it usually is. it might help to ask the person how he got the tix and why he's selling them (he has extras, he can't make it to the show...etc) and use your intuition to see if anything sounds fishy. also, if anyone gives you a time limit to buy the tix, he's most likely a scammer. i almost bought 4 GAs for $150 each on craigslist, which sounded like a decent deal considering the fact that GAs were selling for $250 per ticket, but the seller claimed he had to go out of town in two days so he asked me if i could send in the money via WU ASAP. so i emailed him back and asked a few questions, like how was he able to get 4 GAs and why is he selling them, etc...and he never responded.