Man arrested for allegedly selling phony Disneyland tickets to Carson residents

[MousePlanet AutoPoster]

Authorities are looking for additional victims. Via the DailyBreeze.com

A Compton man allegedly sold used Disneyland tickets on Craigslist to unsuspecting Carson residents who arrived at the amusement park to find they were victims of a fraud, sheriff's detectives said today.

[AVP]

I reposted this because I'm seeing a LOT of this at the Disneyland Resort. Last week I saw a family turned away from Disney California Adventure because their "rented" tickets had already expired, and another family because they didn't have ID to match the tickets they were trying to use.

Over at Disneyland, I saw a pair of teenage girls turned away because they didn't have a military ID to go with the discounted military salute tickets they were trying to use, and another family was waiting for a lead to come over to discuss their tickets. When the next family in line ALSO had problematic tickets, the CM at the gate closed her turnstile, and asked the rest of us to go to the adjacent gate, because it was going to take a while for the leads to sort everyone out.

There are a number of these ticket "rental" places popping up around the Disneyland Resort, and it really concerns me how many people are setting themselves up for fraud and identity theft by using them. Do you *really* want to leave a photocopy of your driver's license and credit card with someone working from an abandoned fast food counter in a gas station? Ugh.

AVP

[bennette]

How "unsuspecting" can you claim to be when you bought your tickets on Craigslist?

I am baffled by the woman we saw in June who pulled out a second set of used/rented tickets and asked if she could use them if her OTHER tickets (in the process of being confiscated) wouldn't work?

[Malcon10t]

I saw a family of 3 turned away Saturday morning, little boy was crying because "Mom promised!" The tickets were confiscated. I didn't get there early enough to know if it was rental or bought, but the dad was asking to get them back so he could get his money back, and they said they couldn't do that.

[candles71]

My soon to be Son in Law, whose dad recently retired from law enforcement, did not know buying tickets on Craigslist/Ebay was illegal/unethical until I told him. He says he won't do it any more and I know the last time he went he did buy tickets through DL website. I feel bad for the little kids whose parent "promised" them. The adults... not so much.

[monkeygirl]

Where I work, we have had problems with tickets bought through Craig's list, and people selling tickets in our parking lot - about 1/2 of them seem to be expired or used. I wish people would be more careful about buying from reputable places.

[pcrazy99]

I buy and sell a lot of things on craigslist and Ebay. I feel if you use common sense, you can avoid getting ripped off. I never buy any kind of ticket unless it is from something like stub hub.

[jsilkey]

Currently on the Orange County Craigslist, there are pages of listings for tickets. There are also several postings sprinkled in about scammers, listing descriptions, places, dates, etc. Insane!!

To the last poster, on Ebay you have recourse via PayPal (not that I am advocating buying Disney tickets, but for purchases in general where the merchandise can't be verified ahead of time - such as codes, gift cards, etc.). Meeting a guy in a parking lot off of Craigslist to buy an unverifiable item is the same as kissing your $$$ goodbye!

[Courtney Anne]

People rent tickets ? Who would leave their ID with somebody else ? I guess I just don't get that. My neighbor mentioned that she had a friend that was going to get her a deal and they were going to do 3 days at the park for $95. I asked her if this was a military ticket and she said YES. I told her not to bother getting it because if she shows up without military ID she will be asked to upgrade or refused entry. She didn't believe me. I tried to pull up this site to show her but she had to leave for work. I talked to her again and said she would probably do only one day then. She then said she could not wait to see the fireworks in DL. I asked her what day she was planning to go - she was only able to get certain days off for work and is planning a trip on a party night. Which means no fireworks in DL for her or her kid. I know that I am a total Disney dork - but are there really that many people that do not plan anything for their trip ? If she hadn't mentioned it to me, she would have driven 8 hours from Northern AZ to go to the park and then had to leave early because it was a party night.

[MommyTo3Boys1Girl]

Sadly people don't realize that selling partially used tickets is illegal. With so many people in situations where money is tight, they try to find discounts anywhere, so they buy tickets off Craigslist etc., thinking they are saving money. In the end it costs them more because they are out the money for the tickets and end up having to buy tickets at the gate, or worse, not even making it in to the park. I wish there was a way for Disney to help the people who truly didn't know they were doing anything wrong. You can look on eBay and see hundreds of listings for tickets that are 12+ day parkhoppers, and they are being sold for 1 or 2 day use. The ads seem so legit and seriously people just don't realize what a scam it is. It truly is sad that there are losers praying on families that are only trying to make their kids' dreams come true in a time when this country is struggling financially.

[bennette]

Sorry, but caveat emptor is nothing new. Looking at eBay, I saw plenty of offers that looked flagrantly suspicious to me (just reading the "buyer" feedback raised prickles, let alone the lack of details on the tickets themselves).

I did see some that seemed possibly to be resales of full price tickets or vouchers but those weren't particularly cheap. Not cheap enough to risk, anyway.

[West Covina Dave]

Just to clarify, in California it is not illegal to sell a partially used ticket, nor is it illegal to sell an unused ticket. The only thing that has been described on this thread that is illegal is selling a ticket with no value and representing it as having value, that is fraud and this whole thread was started describing how someone was arrested for it. It is a violation of Disney's contract and they do have the right to confiscate ticket that is being used outside of the the specific contract, but people don't get arrested for that, they just lose their media. I do not condone any of the things being described, such as selling individual days on a ticket and I think it is unethical, but it is not illegal.

On an additional note, Florida does have different laws and, unless you are authorized, it is illegal to sell a ticket there.

[monkeyboy]

This reminds me of a person posting here some months ago, that was all upset the CM at the gate had written the last name of the person and their family on the 6 day park-hopper passes - they were upset because that meant that they could not re-sell the unused days on Ebay to another person and make back some of the money they spent on the tickets. They said that they had done this often before, it was part of the way that they'd finance their trips, they'd buy six day hoppers for a three day visit and sell the rest. I can't help wonder if any of the other people they had sold to had been stopped at the gates and refused admittance?

[stan4d_steph]

Man pleads no contest for fake Disney tickets - OC Register

Terance Hutchinson, 35, pleaded no contest Tuesday to making counterfeit tickets following his Saturday arrest. Hutchinson was released after his appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court...

Disneyland security told police that about 50 people had tried to use the same set of photocopied tickets, Austin said. Two more potential victims have also contacted police...

On Tuesday, two theft charges were dropped against Hutchinson after he pleaded no contest to a counterfeit charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 21 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

[Shortpix77]

I can't help wonder if any of the other people they had sold to had been stopped at the gates and refused admittance?

Despite the many stories of people getting caught doing this, I've also seen it go the other way -- I've had friends buy and use multi-day tickets that have never written their names on them or been ID'd by cast members to use them. They were using them the "correct/legitimate" way (one person using all of the days on the ticket), but no cast member was verifying that they'd done so or making sure there was a name on the ticket. Seems like this might be enforced a bit arbitrarily... Maybe cast members only check when the line isn't as long, or if some other criteria is present? I have no idea, just wondering why I've never seen the checks that others have...

[Malcon10t]

Despite the many stories of people getting caught doing this, I've also seen it go the other way -- I've had friends buy and use multi-day tickets that have never written their names on them or been ID'd by cast members to use them. They were using them the "correct/legitimate" way (one person using all of the days on the ticket), but no cast member was verifying that they'd done so or making sure there was a name on the ticket. Seems like this might be enforced a bit arbitrarily... Maybe cast members only check when the line isn't as long, or if some other criteria is present? I have no idea, just wondering why I've never seen the checks that others have...

They tend to look closer when there is a larger than expected gap in the days. I *think* the scanner triggers it. For example, a 6 day ticket has 3 uses for days 1, 2, and 3, then skips to days 11, 12, and 13... But since they stopped selling 6 day tickets, this will slow down some.

[stan4d_steph]

Just a note that in this specific case the man wasn't selling partially used tickets; he was arrested for printing multiple copies of e-tickets and selling those copies. The first people to use them were able to get in, but all subsequent people would have been refused. I've seen similar situations at concerts, which is why listings will often say "hard tickets" so that there is less chance of getting a counterfeit ticket.

[adriennek]

It is a violation of Disney's contract and they do have the right to confiscate ticket that is being used outside of the the specific contract, but people don't get arrested for that, they just lose their media. I do not condone any of the things being described, such as selling individual days on a ticket and I think it is unethical, but it is not illegal.

Sadly people don't realize that selling partially used tickets is illegal. With so many people in situations where money is tight, they try to find discounts anywhere, so they buy tickets off Craigslist etc., thinking they are saving money. In the end it costs them more because they are out the money for the tickets and end up having to buy tickets at the gate, or worse, not even making it in to the park. I wish there was a way for Disney to help the people who truly didn't know they were doing anything wrong.

So first off - illegal or scamed, either way, it's unfortunate that some people don't realize that they're being scammed.

As unfortunate as it is, I'm glad that Disney doesn't do anything to help them, for a few reasons:

1- If they did something to help them, there'd be far less reason for the people violating the rules (of the contract) to stop. What they're doing is unethical and in the end it hurts everyone - for example, it's now harder for people who are trying to purchase legitimate multi-day passes because of these people.

2- By denying these people admission, the stories will spread: Beware of Craig's List and Ebay tickets, they won't work.

3- I believe that many of these people know what they're doing. Take the woman last week that had BACK UP tickets in case the first set didn't work. Seriously. If you know that your tickets might not work, you know that something's up. There are a lot of people out there cheating the system. People stick their 5-year-olds in strollers trying to pass them off as under 3, people trying to share tickets - they do it all the time. Disney is a privilege, not a right. It's unfortunate that times are tight, but I see plenty of people walking around spending money they don't have on iphones and other luxuries. I have no idea how so many of these people are affording these things. If they're cheating to do it, p'ssshhh - they get what they have coming to them.

Are their "innocent" victims? Well, like bennette said, caveat emptor is nothing new. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. It does SAY on the tickets that they're non-transferrable. Sure, they buy the tickets without reading the fine print, but it's there. And just because they don't read the fine-print does not mean that they're immune from it.

[tea4two]

Well said, ADK!

And, just a question about what West Covina Dave said above: does anyone know why CA doesn't have the same law as FL about ticket sellers for Disney having to be authorized?

[codewoman]

Well said, ADK!

And, just a question about what West Covina Dave said above: does anyone know why CA doesn't have the same law as FL about ticket sellers for Disney having to be authorized?

I imagine Disney might have more clout in Florida than California. That would help get a law passed.

[Drince88]

I imagine Disney might have more clout in Florida than California. That would help get a law passed.

Plus such a large percentage of Florida's economy is based on tourism, the state is more likely to do what it needs to make that continue. It's tourist-friendly to have good penalties for people that take advantage of tourists. Even the state law that says you can't charge an additional fee for rental car drop off at a different place than where you rented it, is super tourist-friendly.

[adriennek]

Well said, ADK!

OUCH! Except when I spelled there wrong. OBVIOUSLY I was typing too fast and multi-tasking... But thank you!

[jcruise86]

How drug addicted or evil does one have to be to take money
by selling bogus Disneyland tickets and getting kids excited about going to Disneyland
when they can't get in?

Long ago, I sold a legitimate, one-day Disneyland ticket through Craig's list.
The buyer came to my house to pick up the ticket,
so she knew where to report me if it had been a scam.

Off track: the ticket was a good deal, but a number of callers revealed their suspiciousness
by being cold & borderline rude when asking me about it. I sold it to the nicest caller.

[missm]

How drug addicted or evil does one have to be to take money
by selling bogus Disneyland tickets and getting kids excited about going to Disneyland
when they can't get in?

Long ago, I sold a legitimate, one-day Disneyland ticket through Craig's list.
The buyer came to my house to pick up the ticket,
so she knew where to report me if it had been a scam.

Off track: the ticket was a good deal, but a number of callers revealed their suspiciousness
by being cold & borderline rude when asking me about it. I sold it to the nicest caller.

I feel bad because years ago my husband (when he was my boyfriend) and I gave our Universal Studios tickets to friends after we had used them for a day. I think it was a caught up in the moment thing where we ran into an old friend at DL and we had just been to Universal the day before and had a day left on our tickets.

I completely agree that someone would have to be an awful person to sell a bogus ticket. We see scams checks all the time at work and it makes me sick. When you have someone struggling to make ends meet and they really hope that they are the one person that is really receiving legitimate funds, it sucks to be the person to break it to them that they are being scammed. I think that some people just think that they are that one person that the "to good to be true" thing doesn't apply to.

[houseofmouse]

A bogus ticket yes I could see someone buying a ticket but an E-ticket? Basically a piece of paper with a bar code. For me that would raise a red flag!! Anyone could just print off numerous copies.

I am not sure about tickets skipping days raising red flags at the ticket booths either. We bought hoppers last summer for my family, I still had my pass, and we went two days here, 1 day here and the last day my oldest sons was valid was on the fourteenth day and it had been another 4 days in between visits. No one batted an eye.