Fans Scammed Out of Thousands for Sabrina Carpenter, Oasis Tickets After Ireland Banned For-Profit Resale

In recent weeks, dozens of fans have lost out on thousands of dollars purchasing tickets on the Black Market in Ireland to tickets like Sabrina Carpenter and Oasis since for-profit resale was banned in the country.

Ireland banned resale back in 2021. While promoters called the ban a positive move, fans are now feeling the backlash as they have to rely on other methods — like sending strangers money on the internet — to purchase resale tickets.

Sabrina Carpenter took over Dublin’s 3A Arena last week for a two-night sold-out stint, but ahead of the concerts, some people had to scramble around last-minute to find tickets after theirs were deemed invalid.

One fan told Extra.ie she had purchased tickets to take her 10-year-old to the show, totaling €600. However, two hours after they were in their seats, another two people showed up with the same tickets.

Another fan paid €480 on the tickets for Christmas presents for their children. He told Extra.ie the scammer gave them only one ticket and said as the gig got closer, they would take it back and send over the four tickets he purchased. However, the three other tickets never materialized, and in order to save “Santa’s” present, he had to spend €1,100 last-minute on another ticket-selling platform.

The most elaborate scam led to one woman out of €21,000. She told the publication she had purchased a number of tickets from a woman over the years, including Oasis tickets, and even recommended the seller to her friends — sending the money to the seller for them through Revoult. However, she never received the tickets and the scammer has since turned-off their WhatsApp account to eliminate communication.

Ticketmaster said it is currently liaising with An Garda Síochána following the fraudulent behavior. The ticketer noted that “anyone who has been scammed purchasing tickets from an unofficial site, social media or an individual claiming to represent Ticketmaster should report it to An Garda Siochána, who have the authority to investigate and deal with the matter.”

For-profit ticket resale was banned in Ireland in 2021 — a move that had been in-the-works since 2017.

While music promoters were proponents of the bill, which they claimed will save consumers from seeing inflated prices for high-demand events, consumers have been forced to purchase tickets from industry-owned face value-capped resale marketplaces owned by promoters.

The resale ban already proved to be an issue; one example is when Ed Sheeran fans complained loudly over the impossibility of selling tickets they could not use for his shows using the capped resale platform his promoters insisted upon. Those looking to move these tickets could not price them below face value, which meant that those listings couldn’t hope to compete with the face value listings.

Fans who opt out of purchasing tickets on the primary market are left with one option: to search for tickets on the Black Market — which often leaves them empty-handed by scammers.