A Surrey man has been arrested and charged in relation to a ticket selling scam spanning three municipalities.
Vancouver police began investigating after reports someone was using Craigslist to advertise and find buyers for concert tickets. In most cases, the buyers who electronically transferred funds into a bank account received fake tickets in return.
In other cases, the transaction was face to face.
The transactions took place in Vancouver, North Vancouver and Surrey between August 2012 and November of this year.
On Dec. 5, investigators executed a search warrant at a Surrey home and arrested 22-year-old Amritjot Singh Randhawa.
Randhawa is charged with six counts of fraud under $5,000 and one count of using forged documents. Police say the investigation is ongoing and further charges may be recommended based on additional information received throughout the Lower Mainland. Randhawa’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 27.
There are inherent risks for consumers when they buy anything through someone other than a legitimate retailer. Police are cautioning the public to think twice when they buy tickets from strangers online. Whenever possible, verify the tickets are legitimate through a retailer before purchasing them.
Anyone who believes they were sold fraudulent concert tickets by Randhawa, or attempted to purchase tickets from him, and has not spoken to police, is asked to call Vancouver Police Department non-emergency 604-717-3321 and report the incident.
