JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When major bands such as the Rolling Stones come to town, it’s only natural for fans to seek good deals on tickets. But if a deal appears too good to be true, it probably is.
News4Jax spoke with Rolling Stone fans who thought they were getting a good deal on tickets they found on Craigslist.
Linda Olsavsky is a huge Rolling Stones fan who had never seen the band perform in person. So when she learned they would be performing in Jacksonville, her niece, who asked not to be identified, said she would purchase four tickets from Craigslist for herself, her sister, Olsavsky and Olsavsky's brother.
“She was bartering back and forth with the person as far as the price goes and she got them down to what we thought was fair," Olsavsky said.
Text messages show her niece and the alleged ticket seller agreed on a price of $700.
“She sent him the money through Google Pay and never received the tickets," Olsavsky said.
Her niece sent a text to the seller, letting the person know she never got the tickets and that she was stopping payment.
But when her niece contacted her bank, "they said the money had already been taken out of her account," Olsavsky said.
News4Jax went on Craigslist and found what appeared to be endless postings for Rolling Stones tickets for sale. Olsavsky said purchasing tickets on Craigslist was a gamble, but they had hoped they would be dealing with a person with good intentions.
“It’s really sad. It used to be good," Olsavsky said. I’ve gotten things off of there, but bad people are out there willing to take advantage of you, unfortunately.”
After reporting the alleged fraud to police, Olsavsky said that both the bank and Google are working to help her niece recoup the money she lost.
The silver lining to the story: Someone heard what happened and purchased Olsavsky and her family four tickets to see the Rolling Stones.