Three Cork Coldplay fans duped by ticket scam

The fans found ‘tickets’ for the group’s July 8, Croke Park concert on a classified ads website. Each was asked to transfer money, via Western Union, for the tickets. None of the three customers received a ticket. The first lost €100, the second €200, and the third €230. Tickets for the A Head Full of Dreams concert went on sale on October 7 and were sold out within 30 minutes. However, ‘tickets’ are now for sale on classified ad websites, with gardaí warning that some of these are either fake or don’t exist and that music fans should beware of these scams.

Will Champion, Guy Berryman, Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland of Coldplay. Pic: PA Wire

Gardai believe a professional gang is overseeing the scam, which involves people sending their money, via Western Union, for tickets that do not exist.

They say it is a highly organised scam, involving a number of different phone numbers used in the ads. The phones are all pre-paid and cannot be traced. Officers are investigating the possibility that those heading up the scam recruit people in all parts of the country to run it for them.

The Coldplay concert is a major attraction, as the band has not played in Ireland since Oxegen, in 2011. Fans who missed out on tickets for the concert had hoped the band would add at least one other date for Ireland, as had happened in other European cities. However, their hopes were not fulfilled.