ROGERS, Ark. — The Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion (AMP) continues to catch the attention of big-ticket artists and their fans, which catches the attention of scammers.
With sold-out shows for Chappell Roan and Post Malone, Spokesperson Jennifer Wilson said this season is their largest season so far.
The issue that comes with sold-out shows is many of the tickets have been eaten up by resellers. Wilson added that reselling is legal in Arkansas, therefore the concert venue can't control the resell market.
"This is a big industry for the scammers. They know that tickets are in high demand, and they are on the prowl for people looking for tickets," said Cara Carlin.
Carlin is a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau serving Arkansas. She explains that ticket scams regularly occur when people come across a fake or fraudulent website, or find tickets on free listing marketplaces like Facebook or Craigslist. She explained that the ticket could turn out to be not real or not available, which is why she suggested anyone buying a ticket to do so from the venue or a reputable ticket reseller.
Carlin explained that if you must buy from someone, watch out for too-good-to-be-true deals. She also adds that fans should do their research on the seller and see if they're a local or a real person.
"I will say that has even gotten harder because a lot of times what these ticket scammers will do is gain access to a real person's profile and then use that profile to perpetuate these scams. I would ask if you can meet them in person for the exchange in a public place," Carlin said.
Wilson explained that the Walmart AMP changed to digital wallets with scammers in mind.
"It has that rotating QR code on it, and it's in a digital ticket wallet. So you could ask to see that digital ticket wallet to see that it's a valid ticket," Wilson said.
Wilson added that anyone buying a ticket could call their box office to verify if the ticket is real.
If worse comes to worse online, Carlin explained there are ways to get your money back from a reputable platform or payment service.
"You don’t want to use untraceable payment methods like wire transfers or some of the money apps. Stick with your bank, and then again our advice would usually be to use a credit card if you can because those credit card issuers are pretty good about their customer service," Carlin said.
Wilson also addressed the concern of bots, which she said is an issue the concert industry has to deal with regularly. While Wilson acknowledged that the AMP has no control of the resell market, they do review ticket sales daily for any suspicious accounts that buy over the limit.
She said the AMP has the ability to refund the money and return the tickets back out for public sale.
"It's not something that we usually get in large quantities, but it is something that we constantly do to try to make sure that we're getting tickets into the hands of fans," Wilson said.
To contact or buy tickets from the Walmart AMP, you can visit their website. Carlin suggests you visit the Better Business Bureau's website to search for ratings and reviews of ticket resale sites.
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