Two Langley teenagers who fell prey to a One Direction ticket scam will be going to the group’s much-anticipated Vancouver concert after all.
Emily Mierzejewski and her friend bought a pair of tickets to the superstar British boy band’s show for $500 on Craigslist earlier this month, and were heartbroken when they turned out to be fake.
But one week after CTV News aired their story, members of the community have come forward to offer Mierzejewski and her friend tickets to the Take Me Home tour – completely free of charge.
The pair ended up with seven free tickets.
“I was really happy, at that point I didn’t care where my seats were,” Mierzejewski said.
But the Langley teens weren’t the only victims of this scam.
Police believe the same 15-year-old girl who met them in person to hand off the bogus tickets has met with other teens and parents, in cities from Langley to North Vancouver.
In each case, the teen had legitimate-looking hard copy tickets with receipts.
Last Monday, Geoff Bartlett and his 17-year-old daughter Brooke met a suspect of the same description in downtown Vancouver to buy One Direction tickets.
When they got home, the Bartletts noticed the issue date on the tickets were February 2013, even though the concert sold out almost immediately after going on sale last year.
They turned out to be fake as well.
“I felt sick. Here I am, a dad trying to protect his daughter and I had told her, ‘Yeah, these tickets are good.’ I felt absolutely terrible,” Bartlett said.
They immediately went to the police and the young con artist was arrested the next day.
Their family's story will have a happy ending as well, however; the Mierzejewskis said they'll happily share their extra donated tickets with them.
Police advise meeting online sellers at the original ticket provider for validation before handing over any money. Any other victims who have been duped by fake One Direction ticket sales are asked to come forward.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Jina You
